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Jakarta Firemen to Get Life Insurance
Arientha Primanita | December 15, 2009

Hundreds of people lost their homes and a fireman died in the Tambora fire. (JG Photo/ Afriadi Hikmal). Hundreds of people lost their homes and a fireman died in the Tambora fire. (JG Photo/ Afriadi Hikmal).
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Nathan.W
10:11pm Dec 19, 2009

Since only 1600 Firefighters (out of 3100) are civil service with Health insurance, the other guys are not covered? It’s like saying if they get hurt they have to pay out of pocket, but only if they die they get money. This is insane!


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The Jakarta city administration on Monday said it has approved a budget of Rp 5 billion ($530,000) that would cover firefighters’ life insurance next year — the first time such a benefit was granted to firefighters and shouldered by the government.

With the budget set, city officials will start to welcome bids from insurance companies, although no specific timeframe has been set as to when tenders will be officially accepted and when the winning bid will be announced.

“We just hope that the insurance company that wins the bid will be a trustworthy company, which can provide good coverage for the sake of the firefighters and their families,” said Ida Mahmudah, head of the Jakarta Council commission overseeing governmental affairs.

“[Allocating the budget for life insurance] should have been done years ago,” Ida added, saying city officials needed to start working on providing contractual firefighters with medical coverage.

“Fires might not be a priority on the list of prime hazards — such as floods and traffic jams — that city officials need to attend to, but they’re certainly not to be ignored.”

Some 800 fires have been reported this year, resulting in 43 deaths and financial losses of up to Rp 300 billion.

The most recent incident occurred on Thursday when faulty electrical wiring caused a fire in the Jembatan Besi subdistrict in Tambora, West Jakarta, which burned down 200 homes and left 800 people homeless. One firefighter, Sulistyo Putranto, died at the scene after part of a burning house collapsed on him. Two other firefighters were seriously injured.

In the last three years, six firemen have died and 61 others injured in Jakarta, said Paimin Napitupulu, chief of Jakarta’s Fire and Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Paimin said that out of the 3,100 firefighters registered in the agency, 1,600 were civil service employees who had medical coverage.

Adrinof Chaniago, a public policy expert from the University of Indonesia, said that life-insurance coverage for firefighters was long overdue. “They put their lives on the line for the sake of the public, so it’s only right that the government provides for them and their families,” Adrinof said.