Setiabudi fire victims banned from rebuilding

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta Mayor Pardjoko has banned the residents of Setiabudi district whose houses and shops were razed by fire Thursday from rebuilding their properties.

Pardjoko said yesterday the restriction was due to the mayoralty's plan to build a low-cost apartment on the site.

"We are currently identifying the land title certificates of the location," he said.

The fire in the densely populated Karet subdistrict destroyed 15 houses and four shops, leaving more than 100 people homeless. A two-and-half-year-old baby, Eko, was killed in the blaze.

Pardjoko said the plan was aimed at reducing slum areas in the city.

"The building of a low-cost apartment is also meant to set up more green and open areas, as suggested by Governor Surjadi Soedirdja," he said.

The fire, which started at about 9 a.m, was believed to have been caused by a kerosene stove exploding. The owner, Sulastri, is being interrogated by local police.

Residents said that the fire spread quickly from the first house to other properties.

Losses are estimated at about Rp 1 billion (US$333,330).

Residents who tried to extinguish the fire stopped working when they hear a woman shouting for help.

Sariyem, 19, was heard screaming that her baby boy, Eko, was on the second floor of her burning house.

Sariyem said she had left her baby sleeping while she went to bathroom.

When she returned, she found the stairs to the second floor destroyed by the flames.

Even after the firefighters from 17 fire trucks extinguished the blaze after two hours, the body of the baby still could not been found.

Residents believe Eko's body was burned to ashes.

But Sariyem said yesterday that she had found her baby's intestines. (jun/bsr)