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Jokowi orders safety audit after deadly Plumpang fire
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo visited survivors of fuel tank explosions in temporary shelters in Plumpang, North Jakarta on March 5, 2023. (The Jakarta Post/Twitter/Joko Widodo)
F
ollowing Friday’s deadly blaze at the Pertamina Plumpang Depot in North Jakarta that killed at least 17 local residents, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is seeking greater accountability from the state-owned energy holding company and has also ordered a safety audit for state facilities across the country that posed a similar hazard.
The fire started at around 8 p.m. on March 3 and quickly spread to nearby houses in the densely packed neighborhood, causing panic among the local residents before firefighters managed to extinguish the flames on Saturday morning.
During a visit to the depot on Sunday, Jokowi instructed his administration to come up with an immediate solution in order to avoid the occurrence of similar incidents.
“I have ordered the state-owned enterprises [SOEs] minister and the [acting] Jakarta governor to urgently find a solution to the Plumpang [incident],” Jokowi said on Sunday, respectively referring to Erick Thohir and Heru Budi Hartono, both of whom accompanied the President on his visit.
Jokowi said the government was also considering relocating either the fuel depot out of the Plumpang residential area or the residents to a site far from the depot.
He acknowledged that Plumpang was “indeed a danger zone” and the people could “no longer live here”. He added that a solution “should be decided by the [acting] Jakarta governor and Pertamina in a day or two”.
