Safety systems required for all buildings

JAKARTA (JP): The city will continue to take stern action against building owners who fail to equip their properties with proper fire protection systems, an officer said.

Head of the City Fire Agency, Suharso, said yesterday that his office has fined several building operators in the city and would continue to carry out the enforcement of Provincial Decree No. 3, which was issued in 1992.

The decree requires all buildings to be equipped with appropriate fire protection and safety systems. Owners who fail to meet the requirements will be fined Rp 50,000 (US$18.90), Suharso said.

"It is, of course, a paltry amount for the owners but it doesn't mean that we won't carry out sterner action," he told a seminar on fire protection technology and management.

After the first charge, the buildings will be intensively monitored by our staff, said Suharso.

"If the owners fail to significantly improve their fire systems after a certain period of time, we could send them to jail," he said.

Suharso, however, gave no further details.

The two-day seminar, jointly organized by city's Public Works office and Indonesian Consultants Association, was opened yesterday by Deputy Governor on Economics and Development Affairs T.B. Rais.

In his speech, Rais said the need to install proper fire protection systems in their properties was also a moral obligation for building owners.

"A law requires responsible a attitude, so if owners are not careful or even ignore the existing laws, they've already risked other people's lives and nobody will trust them," said Rais.

Fire protection installations alone are not enough to prevent fires, the buildings should also have skilled firemen and tenants with positive attitudes, he said.

"An ideal condition is when a building is installed with a fire protection system and has skilled personnel to handle a fire," he said.

However, Suharso said that so far, the current human resources cannot cope with the current situation.

"The agency currently has 2,601 firefighters who are assigned to cover the whole of Jakarta, which is home to 9.5 million people and has 700 high-rise buildings," he said.

He cited, for comparison, that Brunei Darussalam, with a population of 300,000 people, has 1,000 firefighters.

The city's 631 fire hydrants is also a shocking amount for Suharso.

"Ideally, Jakarta should have 13,000 hydrants. One installed every 200 meters to cover the whole 65 hectares of the city," he said.

Some of the 159 fire engines are in bad condition, Suharso added.

He said the agency receives a government budget of Rp 11 billion per year for operational costs.

"Most of the fund is used for training and firefighters' welfare," he said. "Only some of it is used for purchasing new equipment." (04)