Investigate PT ITSS Morowali Smelter Explosion, Ministry Of Industry Waits For The Results Of Puslabfor Central Sulawesi Police

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) said that it is currently coordinating intensely with the forensic laboratory center (Puslabfor) of the Central Sulawesi Regional Police (Polda Sulteng) regarding the explosion of the PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel (ITSS) smelter furnace in Morowali, Central Sulawesi.

Head of the Standardization and Industrial Services Policy Agency (BSKJI) of the Ministry of Industry Andi Rizaldi said his party would provide further information regarding the cause of the explosion, after the results of the investigation by the Central Sulawesi Regional Police Laboratory.

"We from the Ministry of Industry are still monitoring developments related to the results of the crime scene (TKP) or investigation conducted by the Central Sulawesi Regional Police Laboratory. Maybe later, after the results of the investigation, the Ministry of Industry will give a release with the Central Sulawesi Regional Police," Andi said in an online release. IKI's assessment in December, Thursday, December 28.

Andi emphasized that the investigation step by deploying a team from the Central Sulawesi Regional Police Laboratory was in accordance with the procedure for handling accidents in general.

"Currently, a team from the Ministry of Industry is coordinating intensely with the Central Sulawesi Regional Police Laboratory. So, like the general procedure in the event of an incident, the police, in this case the Central Sulawesi Regional Police, dispatched a team from the Forensic Laboratory," he said.

He added that his party is currently waiting for the results of an investigation conducted by the Central Sulawesi Regional Police Laboratory regarding the handling of the incident.

"So, at this time we are still waiting for the results of the coordination investigation between the Regional Police and the Ministry of Industry team," he added.

Previously reported, the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) dispatched a special team to handle work accidents that occurred at the nickel processing plant PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel (ITSS) operating in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) area, Central Sulawesi.

"We received reports that after this accident, the victims were handled properly. We also hope that the company can cooperate with the work accident investigation team that was sent to the location. Hopefully this incident will not happen again," said Ministry of Industry spokesman Febri Hendri Antoni Arif in a statement in Jakarta, Sunday.

Febri said that the results of the inspection from the investigation team, apart from knowing the cause of the disaster in PT ITSS, could also be an evaluation from the company for better supervision and control regarding the implementation of Work Safety and Health (K3).

"So Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is actually carried out properly, including those related to workers and the technology used," he said.

The explosion of the smelter furnace belonging to PT ITSS has killed 19 workers.

As for the details, 11 people are Indonesian workers and 8 of them are foreign workers.

Meanwhile, the total number of workers affected by the PT ITSS smelter furnace explosion was 59 people.

A total of 41 of them are Indonesian workers and 18 are foreign workers (TKA) from China.

Meanwhile, as many as 10 TKI are currently undergoing outpatient treatment.