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Experts call for safe zone after fire
Urban planning experts highlighted the importance of buffer zones at key locations following the fire at Pertamina’s fuel depot in Plumpang, North Jakarta
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Urban planning experts highlighted the importance of buffer zones at key locations following the fire at Pertamina’s fuel depot in Plumpang, North Jakarta.
“Ideally, there should be a safe zone of 100 meters to 200 meters separating the fuel depot from residential areas,” Surjono Herlambang, an urban planning expert from Tarumanegara University, said on Tuesday.
Surjono said that the buffer zone was needed to allow fire fighters and other workers access to the premises during emergencies.
“That zone must not have any residences,” he said.
During the early years of the depot, Plumpang was far away from residential areas, but over the last decade squatters have been living as close as 30 meters from the depot.
Following Sunday’s blaze that claimed one life and disrupted fuel supplies in the city, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told Pertamina to clear the areas around their depots as part of their safety precautions although police have yet to complete their investigation over the cause of the fire.
“Both parties, the city administration and Pertamina, have a responsibility to provide the safe zone,” Kalla said.
He said that the city’s responsibility is to enforce their regulations, and require Pertamina to clear the residential areas near the depot for safety reasons.
Ridwan Kamil, a senior architect, said that the city was too lenient in giving away building permits which encourages residential buildings to be built too close to strategic locations.
“Plumpang is not the only place where residents live nearby vital locations. For example, the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport can no longer be expanded as the areas nearby have already been occupied by houses and other real estate developments,” he added.
“The city administration must stop giving away building permits easily or we’ll see more key locations surrounded by residential areas,” he added.
Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said that his administration would establish a buffer zone near the depot, but the details were still under discussion.
“A vital location like Pertamina’s fuel depot needs a wide open area to avoid direct contact,” Fauzi said.
Over the decade, the world has seen several fuel depot explosions. In 1999, a gas pipe explosion in Laem Chabang, Thailand, critically injured two workers. In March 2005, an isomerization unit belonging to British Petroleum in Texas City, United States, exploded, killing 15 workers and injuring more than 170 others, In December 2005, the Buncefield fuel depot in Hertfordshire, England, exploded but there were no casualties. (fmb)
