Many Firefighters Were Damaged, 80 Firefighters Were Summoned By The Depok City Government

A total of 80 firefighters (Damkar) in Depok City through their attorney, Deolipa Yumara, sent a subpoena to the Depok City Government. This subpoena is related to the large number of fire extinguishers that have been damaged and have not been repaired to date.

The summons was also related to the incident of the death of Martunis Reza Panjaitan, a member of the Depok City Fire Department while trying to extinguish the fire at Cisalak Market on Friday, October 18.

In the summons there were several demands, including asking the Depok City Government to immediately repair and update all Damkar facilities, conduct an internal audit related to allegations of corruption at the Fire Department, and increase the salaries of firefighters from Rp. 3.2 million to the equivalent of the Depok City provincial minimum wage (UMP) of Rp. 4.9 million.

Regarding the death of Martinus Reza Panjaitan, Deolipa Yumara as the attorney for the Depok City Damkar officer asked the Depok City Government to take responsibility for the deaths caused by the lack of fire extinguishers. He urged the government to provide compensation, raise Martinus' rank as a hero of the Depok City Damkar, and bear the education costs of the deceased's child to the tertiary level.

"Providing compensation, responsibility for negligence and neglect of the Depok City government so far to the Depok City firefighters and firefighters who resulted in the death of a firefighter named Martinus Reza Panjaitan," Deolipa said in his statement, Wednesday, October 23.

Sandi Butar Butar, one of the firefighters who once revealed the bad condition of fire equipment in Depok City, stated his readiness to testify regarding reports of alleged corruption at the Fire Department. This was further strengthened after their colleague lost his life while in charge of extinguishing the fire at Cisalak Market.

Previously on September 9, 2024, Sandi and his colleagues had also reported allegations of corruption at the Depok City Fire Department, especially regarding the number of fire extinguishers that were damaged without adequate repairs.