TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono revealed that the DKI Provincial Government had previously proposed a distance between residents’ settlements and the Pertamina Plumpang Depot, North Jakarta.
DKI Provincial Government, according to Heru, asked for a 50 meter wide buffer zone. Heru made this suggestion again after the fire at the Pertamina Plumpang depot on Friday night.
“More or less, we will return it to Pertamina,” said Heru after holding an emergency meeting at the Koja Military Command Post, North Jakarta, early Saturday morning, March 4, 2023.
However, Heru did not explain further whether the proposal had been accepted and implemented by Pertamina or local residents. Now, the houses of residents around the depot were scorched by the red flames.
The fire at the Pertamina Depot occurred Friday, March 3 2023, around 20.11 WIB. Some of the residents’ houses located on Jalan Tanah Merah Bawah RT 12 RW 09 Kelurahan Rawa Badak Selatan, Koja District, North Jakarta, were also burned.
The total number of fatalities reached 17 people, 49 were seriously injured, and 2 were moderately injured. Meanwhile, as many as 639 people fled to various locations and posts provided by the local government.
From Tempo’s observation on the ground, houses and shops owned by residents are lined up along Jalan Tanah Merah Bawah. The houses of these residents stand directly against the high wall which forms the boundary for the Pertamina Plumpang Depot.
It is these houses that are left in rubble. Not only houses, a number of vehicles were also burnt. As of 3 a.m., the fire had been extinguished and firefighters were still carrying out the cooling process.
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