Fire at Office of National Commission for Child Protection
Monday, 31 March, 2008 | 15:44 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: There was a fire at the office of the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) in East Jakarta on Saturday morning 29/3).

As a result, a total of 3,260 advocacy documents were destroyed.

“We need this data to support these 1,260 cases being handled by Komnas PA,” said Arist Merdeka Sirait, the commission's general secretary yesterday (30/3).

The damage is expect to amount to Rp120 million.

The fire started at 2.15am in the data room and was discovered by Zaenabullah and Caca, staff members who were staying in the office.

With the help of neighbors, the fire was put out by 3am.

The fire engine came one hour after that and eliminated some of live coals.

Arist said he suspected that the fire was intentional as there was no electrical damage and all the staff members staying in the office were asleep.

“The door to the data room was broken,” said Arist.

Before the fire, Zaenabullah said he heard the sound of someone walking in the data room.

However, Inspector Tata Supramono, head of criminal investigation for Pasar Rebo East Jakarta, said that he had not yet found any evidence pointing towards any intentional factors in the fire.

The case will be investigated by a forensic team from the Indonesian Police Headquarters, which has been examining the three witnesses Zaenabullah, Caca, and his son, Rismana.

Due to destroyed documents, the commission has opened an emergency post to receive complaints.

“Please send in your complaints again,” said Arist.

Fery Firmansyah | Mustafa Silalahi | Eni Saeni