Tanah Abang versus Bali?

Tanah Abang versus Bali?

Ten days after thousands of kiosks at the Tanah Abang textile
market were ravaged by fire, not a single institution has come
forward to claim responsibility for the disaster -- just as
expected.

Some people have argued that it is the state electricity
company, PLN, that should be held responsible for the disaster,
because an eyewitness stated that the fire started at an
electrical substation on the first floor.

However, the fact that all city-owned markets in the capital
are managed by PD Pasar Jaya, plus the fact that most hydrants at
Tanah Abang market were out of order when the fire broke out, led
others to accuse PD Pasar Jaya of negligence.

But while those two institutions are also pointing fingers at
each other, many forget that the traders themselves also
contributed, either directly or indirectly, to last week's fire,
which resulted in huge financial losses.

It cannot be denied that PLN had been all-too-generous to the
traders by so readily providing additional power to their kiosks.

Some traders admitted to having contacted a middleman to make
deals with PLN. No wonder electricity cables could be seen
running crisscross and tangled here and there over alleys in the
market building.

Also, many traders were not very careful in their daily
routine. For example, traders smoking in kiosks filled with bales
of textiles or other merchandise were a common sight before the
fire. Much as PLN is being faulted, it is equally difficult not
to point a finger at PD Pasar Jaya over the fire.

On the other hand, who can say that the traders were blameless
when so many acquired additional electricity via unlawful means?

The traders should be reminded that they, too, must bear part
of the responsibility for the disaster. By violating safety
regulations for the sake of profit they only brought suffering on
themselves.

The fact that the fire exits and spaces in and around the
market building were occupied by vendors, who paid daily fees to
PD Pasar Jaya, is another issue that must be explained by the
market management.

Unfortunately, no one has spoken up about such irregularities
so far, which many people see as being the result of corruption.

Only after the Tanah Abang market fire did people become aware
that all of the 151 markets managed by PD Pasar Jaya lack
adequate fire protection and prevention systems, and are thus
vulnerable to fire.

In many cases, unsafe wiring systems are to blame. The Senen
market fire, which occurred just days before the Tanah Abang
market was burned down, can be cited as proof.

While the question of who is to blame is waiting for an
answer, the city administration is now focusing on what to do
with the traders. Governor Sutiyoso eventually allowed them to
reopen for business in the market's parking lot instead of in the
open space at nearby Kebon Melati, earlier offered as a temporary
site by the authorities.

No doubt the traders do need financial help as no insurance
company is willing to cover their claims. The traders also need
loans as working capital and assurances that they will get new
kiosks once the new market has been rebuilt.

Public sympathy has gone the way of the traders, despite their
negligence that played a role in triggering the fire.

The most interesting source of sympathy has been the
Indonesian Cooperatives Council (Dekopin) and its advocacy team
for the Tanah Abang traders.

Before establishing the advocacy team, Dekopin sent an
official letter to President Megawati Soekarnoputri, urging that
the government rebuild the market soon and provide the traders
with loans as working capital. Dekopin also demanded that the
government initiate a crash program to reestablish the traders'
businesses.

The most interesting statement, however, has come from leader
of the advocacy team Sulistyo, who said that the Tanah Abang
fires were just as horrendous as the Bali blasts, and therefore
the traders deserved equal treatment as the Bali bombing victims.

"We don't want the government to treat the Tanah Abang traders
any differently from the Bali bombing victims simply because the
international impact of the Bali blasts was greater," Sulistyo
said.

No one denies that the Tanah Abang fire damaged the national
economy as it may well leave a total 1.3 million people jobless.
Everybody is aware that billions of rupiah circulated every day
at the Tanah Abang market, reputed to be the largest of its kind
in southeast Asia.

However, to compare the Tanah Abang fire with the Bali
bombings is both futile and irrelevant. The two tragedies are
totally dissimilar, and their chronologies too are totally
disparate, although the economic impact might not be that
different.

It is obvious that the Bali bombings, which killed more than
180 people, were the act of criminals who have claimed
responsibility for them. There was no ignorance behind them.

Without any intention to belittle the Tanah Abang fire,
everybody seems to have agreed that ignorance, indifference and
probably also corruption lay behind the incident.

Unfortunately, institutions that should be accountable for the
tragedy have yet to accept responsibility.

So, let us not make things worse by making unnecessary and
inappropriate statements. Overblown rhetoric, which can only
mislead people, should be avoided. What the traders need now is
assistance to revive and reactivate their businesses as soon as
possible.