Indonesia to relocate residents or move fuel facility following fire

JAKARTA - Indonesia will relocate residents living near a fuel-storage fire that killed 16 people, or remove the depot owned by state energy company Pertamina to a safer location, said President Joko Widodo on Sunday (March 6).

The decision will rest with State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir, Pertamina and Jakarta Governor Heru Budi Hartono, he said, adding that no one can live near the facility.

Dozens were injured and hundreds remain displaced as at Sunday, said Indonesia’s disaster agency, after Friday night’s fire that began in a fuel pipe at the Plumpang depot in the capital Jakarta.

“We do have a clear solution towards this problem,” said the President, commonly known as Jokowi, as he visited survivors staying in temporary shelters in Plumpang.

He said the decision would be made in a day or two.

The fire spread to nearby houses, causing people in the densely populated area to panic, before it was extinguished on Friday night.

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Pertamina has lifted the emergency status for the facility and restarted distribution. It said Jakarta’s fuel supply would remain secure.

Investigation continues into the cause of the fire. The company said on Saturday that a pipe leak was detected before the blaze.

The depot might be relocated to artificial islands off the north coast of Jakarta, Mr Widodo said, adding that ideally, the depot would be surrounded by a river, not a settlement.

Seventeen artificial islands, built by the Jakarta government under the capital’s land reclamation project, have been abandoned in recent years.

Mr Widodo ordered an audit of similar facilities across Indonesia to prevent similar incidents from occurring.