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Nearly 700 buildings in Jakarta lacking fire safety equipment
Only seven of 10 multi-story buildings in the city were found of having proper fire safety equipment, as found by the Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency in an inspection in 2024.
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Firefighters douse a fire at the Attorney General's Office (AGO) building in Jakarta on Aug. 22, 2020. (AFP/Adek Berry)
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undreds of buildings across Jakarta are still not equipped with proper fire safety equipment, including the portable extinguishers, Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung has revealed.
“We already have regulations in place requiring buildings in Jakarta to have their own firefighting equipment. However, the enforcement is still far from optimal,” the governor said on Friday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
He cited data from the Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency’s inspection on 2,609 multi-story buildings across the city in 2024. Around 70 percent of all inspected buildings were found to meet fire safety standards, having been equipped with portable fire extinguishers and other safety facilities.
The agency found that nearly 700 buildings did not meet fire protection standards, namely 361 high-rise buildings with eight floors or more and 333 low-rise buildings with less than eight floors. These buildings were given a year to equip themselves with proper fire safety equipment.
Buildings found fulfilling the fire safety standard will be awarded a fire protection certificate for their compliance with the city’s regulations.
Read also: Fatal Tanjung Priok inferno highlights fire hazard in crowded Jakarta
Pramono instructed the Fire and Rescue Agency head Bayu Meghantara, who was newly appointed by the new governor, to launch on-site inspections across the city.
“Buildings that don’t comply with the regulation should be warned. If they still refuse to comply, we should give them a strong warning,” Pramono said.
The governor also urged every neighborhood unit (RT) in Jakarta, especially those in densely populated residential areas, to be equipped with at least two portable extinguishers.
Pramono signed a gubernatorial instruction encouraging every RT to own portable extinguishers and also launched a community movement to push for ownership of the equipment. On Friday, he distributed portable fire extinguishers in nine RTs in Sukabumi Utara subdistrict in West Jakarta to mark the launch of the initiative.
“We know Jakarta has many densely populated areas,” Pramono said, as quoted by Kompas.com. “When fires occur, these extinguishers can be used by first responders in areas difficult to be accessed by large fire trucks.”
