President Asks For Strengthening Of Smelter Facilities To Prevent Fire

President Joko Widodo when giving a statement in Jakarta, Saturday (30/12/2023). (ANTARA/Andi Firdaus)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo asked for an audit and check the merger facilities in the mining or smelter industry to be strengthened to prevent fires and furnace explosions.

"The business in a place where there is a warm-up, there is a merger, that's what I think is the most vulnerable there. So, the audit, the checkpoint, if possible, must be double-in, if necessary to be tripled, let it happen once, twice this happened, it doesn't happen again," said Jokowi as quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, December 30.

Jokowi said the fire and explosion that occurred in the disinfection in Morowali, Central Sulawesi, was in the process of being investigated by the police.

The President also asked reporters to directly ask the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo about the progress of handling the incident.

According to Jokowi, the operation of the smelter facility is a very difficult job, because the smelter is a facility with large tubes and high heat.

"Saya melihats mellangka sekali, dua kali (kebakaran). Sehingga, yang namanya dalam pembangunan, dalam pembuatannya, unsur keselamanan itu benar-betul harus di nomor satukan," ujarnya.

Smelter owned by PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) area, Morowali, Central Sulawesi, exploded on Sunday (24/12) causing casualties.

Then, Thursday (28/12), PT Gunbuster Nickel Industri (GNI)'s smelter in Morowali caught fire and was successfully extinguished without causing any casualties. However, based on records, the fire from the PT GNI dimelter on Thursday was not the first time this had happened.