The Jakarta Culture and Tourism Agency will not issue permits to host New Year’s Eve events to entertainment centers that fail to meet fire safety standards, an official says.
Agency head Arie Budiman said the policy was aimed at providing city residents with a guaran-
tee of safety during the year-end festivities.
“I think such a preventive measure is perfectly fair,” he said.
“If the managements [of entertainment centers] still want to apply [for a permit] before New Year’s, they still have time to fix or improve their fire safety standards.”
Earlier this month, 20 people were killed when a fire broke out at a popular nightclub in Medan, North Sumatra.
The club reportedly had no fire equipment, such as emergency exits or sprinklers.
In response, the Jakarta Culture and Tourism Agency raided several clubs across the city several days later to check if they had adequate fire equipment.
Two clubs in West Jakarta were sealed off for having no fire alarms or fire extinguishers.
Between Dec. 5 and 20, a series of inspections found 54 of 368 entertainment centers checked had very poor fire safety standards.
The places inspected included 49 hotels and motels, 67 massage parlors, 19 nightclubs, 74 bars and cafés, 45 restaurants, 60 karaoke lounges, 37 live music venues and 17 pool halls.
Tourism agency head Arie said some of the things his office checked for were smoke detectors, fire alarms, hydrants, emergency exits and fire extinguishers.
He added the agency had asked the managers of the substandard entertainment centers to shape up or risk being closed down.
He declined to say when follow-up inspections would be held.
Jakarta Association of Tourism, Recreation and Entertainment Businesses (Aspehindo) chairman Adrian Maulete commended the agency’s call for improved fire safety standards at entertainment centers citywide.
“It’s our obligation to ensure the safety of our patrons,” he told The Jakarta Post.
However, Adrian pointed out it would be difficult for the managers of bars, cafés and nightclubs in shop-house complexes to build additional structures such as emergency exits, given the space constraints they had to deal with.
“At the very least we’ll get them to provide enough fire extinguishers and reliable smoke detectors
to prevent fires from breaking out,” he said.
Jakarta is home to more than 1,000 nightlife businesses, including nightclubs, discos, massage parlors, saunas, arcades and bars.
Aspehindo estimates the sector grows by at least 15 percent a year, with 60 percent of the money circulating around the Tamansari district in West Jakarta.
This area covers nightclubs on Jl. Mangga Besar, Jl. Hayam Wuruk, Jl. Gadjah Mada, the Glodok shopping center and other popular areas in the vicinity.
In South Jakarta, most of the nightclubs in Kemang and in office buildings in business districts are owned by the children of local tycoons and high-ranking government officials, are cater to the expatriate and local corporate executive clientele.
Nightclubs in South Jakarta tend to be lower profile and considered less seedy than those in West and North Jakarta, where drugs and organized prostitution are as much a part of the decor as the drinks.
The National Police have frequently denied allegations of colluding with nightclub owners who accommodate the selling of drugs and sex on their premises.
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