DKI Provincial Government Proposes Rp131 Billion 2022 Budget For Firefighters, PSI: Should Be Able To Reduce Fire Rates

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The DKI Provincial Government has proposed a budget for the Fire and Rescue Service (Gulkarmat) of Rp131 billion in the General Policy on Budget and Temporary Budget Priority Ceiling (KUA-PPAS) of the 2022 APBD.

This budget is intended for firefighting operations (damkar), excluding internet, electricity, and employee salaries.

Seeing the high budget proposal, the chairman of the PSI faction of the DKI DPRD emphasized that the DKI Provincial Government must be able to suppress the high number of fires in the capital city so far.

"The rate of fire cases in Jakarta must be suppressed, and even prevented so that there are no more casualties or property losses that harm Jakarta residents," said Idris in his statement, Sunday, October 31.

So far, Idris assesses that the DKI Provincial Government is not serious in dealing with the high number of fire cases. Given that there have been more than 1224 fire cases in Jakarta throughout 2021.

"This is a phenomenon in the midst of a sad pandemic. Fire is a catastrophic event that must be carefully considered. There are more than 1000 cases of fire in Jakarta. This is an important note," said Idris.

Furthermore, Idris asked the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government to think about resolving the fire disaster very carefully, and not to be complacent in handling fires at this time.

According to him, there need to be priority fire management programs, such as adding fire stations in 27 fire-prone urban villages in Jakarta that do not yet have fire stations, providing fire extinguishers, dry hydrants in the area, education and socialization, and monitoring residential electrical installations.

“The executive always answers that the activities for handling fires have been budgeted. But the problem is not whether there is a budget, but whether or not the budget is sufficient, and whether or not the budget is effective in reducing the fire disaster in Jakarta," he added.