Megawati Checks National Museum Fire Location

The fifth President of the Republic of Indonesia, Megawati Soekarnoputri, visited the location of a former fire at the National Museum or Elephant Museum on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta./STIMEWA PHOTO

JAKARTA - The fifth President of the Republic of Indonesia, Megawati Soekarnoputri, visited the location of a former fire at the National Museum or Elephant Museum on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta.

The chairman of the Steering Committee of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) wants to see the condition of the historic object that caught fire at that location.

Arriving at the National Museum, Megawati was accompanied by the Secretary General of the PDI Perjuangan (PDIP) Hasto Kristiyanto. Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Makariem and Head of the Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Laksana Tri Handoko, Deputy Head of BRIN Vice Admiral Amarulla Octavian, and Historian total Triyana who welcomed Megawati.

After greeting each other, they then entered the National Museum. Dozens of Brimob members seemed to secure the scene. Until now, the police are still investigating and processing the crime scene (TKP) at the National Museum.

It is known that the National Museum caught fire on Saturday, September 16. Acting Head of the Museum and Cultural Heritage (MCB) Ahmad Mahendra explained, as many as 817 collections and historical objects were also burned.

"The affected collections and historical objects are collections of bronze, ceramics, city, and wood as well as collections of miniatures and replicas of prehistoric objects found intact and lightly damaged to severe," said Mahendra.

There are 817 collections affected by the fire out of a total of 194,000 collections and historical objects stored in the National Museum of Indonesia.

After the fire that occurred, he said, several steps and actions had been taken, such as forming a cross-unit investigation and evacuation team, closing six affected rooms, and closing limited to one affected room for further investigation.

Based on information received by his party, the flames that scorched 6 rooms in the A building of the Indonesian National Museum came from behind Building A.

"We emphasize that this fire did not start in the building. It is known that the fire came from behind Building A of the Indonesian National Museum," said Mahendra.

The initial suspicion of the fire, Mahendra said, was after a special team for handling the Indonesian National Museum unit received an initial report from the results of the police investigation process regarding the initial source of the fire.

"The fire caused several rooms on the back of Building A to be affected," said Mahendra.