AGO Fire Protection System Weak

KOMPAS/KURNIA YUNITA RAHAYU

Soot covers the southern face of the main building at the Attorney General’s Office in South Jakarta on Sunday (27/9/2020). The damage to the southern face of the building was minor compared to the northern face, where the fire first broke out. On the third floor of the building’s southern face was the office of Pinangki Sirna Malasari, a former prosecutor who is now on trial for bribery and in aiding and abetting Bank Bali graft convict Joko Tjandra in evading justice.

The fire protection system at the main building of the Attorney General\'s Office was suspected to be weak. The hydrant in front of the building did not provide water, making it difficult to extinguish the fire.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The main building of the Attorney General\'s Office, which burned down on Aug. 22, was considered to have a weak protection system, particularly in dealing with fires. This was demonstrated by the malfunction of the fire hydrant during the blaze and the absence of documents related to building safety.

On Sunday, a Kompas team explored the remains of the AGO’s main building. Not much had changed since the building burned down more than a month ago. Almost all of the six-story building was destroyed and covered with soot. The smell of smoke and coal was still strong. The air around the building stung the eyes.

Although it appeared solid, as one long building, from Jl. Panglima Polim, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, the building was actually divided into two parts, namely the north and south building. On the north side, the damage was severe across all areas, including the Attorney General\'s office on the second floor.

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Likewise, Sasana Andrawina Hall, on the ground floor, which had been used as a storage area for personnel archives for several months, was also destroyed. Piles of bound papers were strewn with ashes and burnt office equipment. On the south side, the damage was lighter because the fire was concentrated in the north.

Waterless hydrant

Dedy, Platoon B chief of the Kebayoran Baru Sector II Fire Brigade in South Jakarta, who was the first on the scene of the fire with his team, said a hose was connected to the hydrant in the building\'s yard, but there was no water. "We had to get water from the Police Headquarters and the water tank outside the building," said Dedy last week.

It took time for the firefighters to access the water from the police headquarters, which is about 500 meters away. Meanwhile, the flames continued to grow bigger, not only on the north side of the building, but also on other sides. The fires continued to burn in the midst of hot weather and strong winds.

Inside the building, there were many piles of paper, some of which continued to burn up to 12 hours after the building fire was extinguished.

Dedy suspected that the fire grew rapidly because of the large quantity of flammable materials. Dedy\'s statement was corroborated by Agus, chief of Platoon C of the Kebayoran Baru Sector II Fire Brigade. He and his team were on duty during the cooling process on Sunday (23/8). Inside the building, there were many piles of paper, some of which continued to burn up to 12 hours after the building fire was extinguished.

According to Law No. 28/2002 on buildings, the hydrant

system is an active protection system in a building. Public Works Ministerial Regulation No. 26/2008 on technical requirements for fire protection systems in buildings and environments stipulates that a hydrant’s water flow must be at least 38 liters per second and must be able to last for at least 30 minutes.

KOMPAS/KURNIA YUNITA RAHAYU

Ruined office furniture fills the gutted Sasana Andrawina Hall, which stored employee records that have now “vanished”, in the main building of the Attorney General’s Office in South Jakarta, Sunday (27/9/2020). Fire broke out at the building on 22 Aug. 2020.

Manlian Ronald A. Simanjuntak, a fire expert and professor of construction project management at Pelita Harapan University, said putting aside the possibility that the fire was intentional, he had discovered a number of irregularities in the building’s fire preparedness system. "I dare to say that it was [the building management’s] weakness. The safety management aspect of the operation of the AGO building is weak," said Manlian.

The building\'s unpreparedness to deal with fires could be seen from Manlian’s observations on Aug. 23 – a few hours after the fire. He said the fact that the firefighters had to get water from outside the building indicated that the hydrants in the building area had not functioned optimally.

On the administrative side, he found a lack of documents related to fire protection, including an absence of data on the building’s design, its layout and the age of its wiring system. "I have not yet found the [building’s] complete design, including the IMB [building permit]. So how can I make sure the fire protection system is okay? I did not find the documents," said Manlian.

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Manlian said the chance that the Attorney General\'s Office building would catch fire was very high, partially because the building was more than 50 years old. Given its age, the building should have renewed its fire-safety system.

Investigation

Previously, the chief of the National Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), Comr. Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, said the source of the AGO fire was an open flame. Investigators concluded that there was a criminal element to the fire. So far, the police have questioned 131 witnesses.

Kompas/Raditya Helabumi

Comr. Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo

According to Manlian, the risk factors and the information about the building’s reliability in dealing with fire also need to be included in the investigation. Investigations that only aim to find the people at fault were premature, he said.

The AGO fire damaged the offices of Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin, Deputy Attorney General Setia Untung Arimuladi, the Junior Attorney General for Development and his staff and the Junior Attorney General for Intelligence. The offices of several bureaus under the Junior Attorney General for Development, such as the employment bureau, the equipment bureau, the finance bureau, the general affairs bureau and the planning bureau, were damaged.

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Inside the building was the former office of prosecutor Pinangki Sirna Malasari, the former head of the Planning Bureau’s Monitoring and Evaluation Subdivision II. She was removed from her post at the end of July 2020, a month before the fire, because she was allegedly involved in bribery to help Joko Tjandra, who was convicted in the Bank Bali corruption case, escape justice.

From field observations, the condition of Pinangki’s office room on the third floor of the south side of the AGO\'s main building was not too bad compared to the room on the same floor on the north side. "She [Pinangki] used to work there. After being removed from her position, then she moved to the AGO\'s Research and Development Center," said Hari Setiyono, head of legal information at the AGO.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Court officers escort prosecutor Pinangki Sirna Malasari leave her hearing on Wednesday (23/9/2020) at the Jakarta Corruption Court in Central Jakarta. Pinangki is being tried for bribery and money laundering, with the Attorney General’s Office alleging that she received US$500.000 (Rp 7 billion) in bribes from Bank Bali graft convict Joko Soegiarto Tjandra to aid him in escaping justice.

Hari said there was no connection between the Pinangki case and the fire. The Pinangki case is currently being processed in court. The indictment of Pinangki has also been read out. In addition, according to Hari, no documents or files related to the Pinangki or Joko Tjandra cases were lost in the fire. This is because the files are stored in the office building of the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes, which is a separate building and was unaffected by the fire. (IRE/NIA/ILO/NAD/FAJ)