Old town's heritage buildings unsafe

Tifa Asrianti ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 06/20/2008 10:34 AM  |  City

The city administration has set up a team to investigate an incident that occurred Wednesday, where a heritage building's wall collapsed and killed a trash-picker in the old town area, an official said Thursday.

Candrian Attahiyat, head of the heritage sites monitoring unit at the culture and museum agency, however, said his office did not have any plans to issue a penalty to the owner of the collapsed building.

"We can only ask the building owners to repair the damage in the building," he said.

"If the building is damaged or has the potential to collapse, a building inspection team will give the owners suggestions on how to repair the damage in accordance with conservation regulations, but the funding comes from the owners," he added.

City planner and conservation expert Muhammad Danisworo said heritage building owners should strengthen their building structures to meet today's safety standards.

"The Venice Charter stipulates heritage buildings should be able to finance its maintenance by holding activities there. So the heritage buildings should meet the health, safety and security standards set today," he said.

"Heritage building structures are not quake-resistant. The owners can strengthen the building's pillars, beams and walls while following conservation standards, so they look appropriate. We have experts here. What we lack of is law enforcement," he said.

The incident Wednesday occurred at Roamalaka, West Jakarta. The city's records show the collapse was the fifth of such incidents this year.

Candrian said his office was waiting for the team's investigation report of the collapsed wall.

"The team of 13 conservation experts was formed Wednesday, based on a gubernatorial decree," he said.

He explained the collapsed wall was part of an unused building that was being turned into a parking area for a private bank.

"There was a banyan tree leaning on the wall. When the wind blew, the tree would shake against the wall, slowly damaging it," Candrian said.

He said his office had asked for an investigation on the old town area's soil conditions to prevent similar incidents in the future.

"The team is now calculating the budget for the investigation," he said.

Damaged and collapsed heritage buildings in 2008

Feb 1: A building of shipping company PT Samudra Indonesia at Jl. Kopi collapsed; no one was injured as the company had closed due to flooding.
Feb 3: A ceiling beam collapsed in a storage building of the Maritime Museum complex, there were no fatalities.
Feb 26: An empty old building on Jl. Tiang Bendera V, Roamalaka, West Jakarta, collapsed. There were no fatalities.
March: An empty warehouse on Jl. Krapu, North Jakarta, collapsed and killed a man.
June 18: A wall of a heritage building in Roamalaka, West Jakarta, collapsed and killed a man.

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