Traders angered at firefighters' slow response

Traders angered at firefighters' slow response

JAKARTA (JP): Traders at the fire-ravaged Pasar Baru shopping
center aired their grievances yesterday over the slowness of
firefighters putting out Monday's fire, saying it allowed the
fire to get even bigger.

The firefighters did not direct the water hose towards the
fire, when it was still small," said Dedy Budiman, a spokesman
for more than 30 traders.

Dedy is the owner of the drug store Ian Farma which was in the
Harco Plaza which was burned down. He said the fire cost him
about Rp 600 million (US$248,241).

He said firefighters took action only after he offered them Rp
30 million, adding that he and 30 other shop owners agreed to
pay. The 30 traders joined Dedy when he made the statements to
the press at the fire site.

Dedy said he had given Rp 3 million in advance to a
firefighter, identified as Irsan, on Monday morning, about two
hours after the fire began.

He also blamed Harco's security officers, who he said were too
slow responding to the fire. "They did not take the initiative to
put out the fire as soon as it broke out."

The chief of the city fire department, Soeharso, did not deny
Dedy's claim. "Those who gave money to my subordinates have
played a role in damaging my corps reputation," he said.

He did not say if his subordinates should be punished for
accepting money from fire victims.

Soeharso had said firefighters found it difficult to reach the
fire because it was in the center of Harco Plaza.

The fire started to gut the Harco Plaza at 5:30 Monday. Police
assumed the fire originated from an electrical short circuit at
the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on the plaza's second
floor.

The fire, which destroyed 300 shops at Harco and King Plaza,
caused 2 billion (US$851,063) damage.

The head of Harco security guards, Yohanes Ataupah, said the
guards did their best to fight the fire.

Five of his men who police questioned soon after the fire were
on duty again yesterday.

Closed area

The fire scene was still sealed off yesterday. Traders who
wanted to see the remains of their shops had to wait in front of
plaza. They sat there with gloomy faces.

Most of the traders said they had not ensured their shops.

A drug store owner at Harco, A Sen, said he insured only a
quarter of his merchandise. "I regret it," he said.

An owner of two watch shops at Harco Plaza said her request to
insure her shops and her merchandise had been refused because her
lease on the shops was going to expire.

A team from Jakarta Police Forensics Laboratory which came to
the scene about 9 a:m yesterday left the site about 1 p:m with no
results. "The thick smoke inside the building apparently stopped
the officers from working inside," said Yohanes, head of the
security guards at Harco Plaza.

Bambang S., who headed the team said the cause of the fire was
still unknown because his team could not start its investigation.

The investigation will continue today.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor for Administration Affairs Idroes
and Central Jakarta Mayor Abdul Kahfi visited the riot-hit Tanah
Abang and fire-ravaged Pasar Baru yesterday.

Kahfi said 50 traders, who rented spaces from city market firm
PD Pasar Jaya at the King Plaza, would be moved to the nearby
Pasar Atom market.

He said employees of the Matahari department stores would be
temporarily posted at all the store's city outlets.

The fire, which began about 5:30 a.m. Monday and subsided at
11 a.m. yesterday, gutted about 230 shops on the second, third
and fourth floors of the Harco Plaza on Jl. Samanhudi, Central
Jakarta and 99 shops in the neighboring King Plaza.

At 7:45 p.m. Monday, fire spread to neighboring stores, Grand
Optic and Bazaar 123.

Among the largest stores destroyed were the Matahari
Department Store outlets in Harco and King Plaza. No fatalities
were reported.

The fire was under control at 11 a.m. yesterday after 35 fire
engines from all mayoralties were deployed.

Governor Surjadi Soedirja said the administration had warned
people of the danger of fire over and over again and called on
them to give more attention to safety issues.

"Unfortunately, the people, including shop owners, are not
responsive to our appeals," Surjadi said after a plenary meeting
of the City Council yesterday. (ste/11/07)