City might shut down Ratu Plaza basement

Mustaqim Adamrah , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 05/06/2008 10:04 AM | City

The city property management and control agency has sealed the basement of Ratu Plaza, Central Jakarta, again after another ventilation failure resulted in employees suffering health complaints.

Considering this was the fifth such incident, agency head Hari Sasongko said Monday, the agency were now proposing to deliberate on three options.

"We'll decide ... in a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday)," he said.

The latest incident saw 27 employees of the France-based retailer, Carrefour, rushed to Pertamina Hospital, South Jakarta. Staff reportedly suffered nausea and vomiting, headaches and respiratory problems.

In late 2002, two carbon monoxide leaks forced the basement-level Carrefour outlet to close twice.

Forty five employees were hospitalized in November of that year, and then in December 2002, 20 more employees were reportedly poisoned by the same gas.

In May 2007 (the third incident) 119 people including shoppers were hospitalized.

The fourth incident occurred in December last year when 19 employees complained of respiratory problems.

Following the December 2007 incident, the agency had announced that the basement level's two (backup) power generators were unable to provide adequate power for the ventilation system in the event of a power failure.

The agency then sealed the parking lot on the basement level.

But the parking lot was reopened late April this year, apparently to test the basement ventilation system and new generators the building management had recently purchased, Hari said.

"We lifted the seal temporarily because we were testing air circulation in the basement. The tests could only be conducted while the basement was being used," he said.

Officials from the city manpower and transmigration agency, health agency, environmental management agency and fire agency had been invited to the Tuesday meeting to decide the fate of the basement, Hari said.

Also to attend were representatives of a city-appointed group in charge of building installation review, he said.

The meeting, Hari said, aims to reach a decision on three options:

"First ... we are proposing the building will be allowed to operate its basement under the agency's auspices for one year if it passes a series of tests."

"Second, the basement will be sealed if another incident occurs during the planned tests; and third, Carrefour will be evicted and the basement will be blocked from use if tests find the basement area is unsafe," he added.

Both Hari and Governor Fauzi Bowo, as well as Carrefour spokesman Irawan Kadarman have said the building's management, PT Ratu Sayang Indonesia, should be accountable for the incident.

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