Russian governor resigns over deadly mall blaze

Yahoo – AFP, Anna SMOLCHENKO, April 1, 2018

At least 64 people including 41 children died in the mall fire in Siberia
last weekend (AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Moscow (AFP) - The longtime governor of a Russian region where a huge mall inferno killed dozens of people -- most of them children -- resigned on Sunday after bitter criticism over his response to the tragedy.

Aman Tuleyev, who had been at the helm of the coal-mining region of Kemerovo since 1997, said in a video address that he could no longer remain at his post with "such a heavy burden" and that quitting was "the only right choice".

The Kremlin swiftly said that President Vladimir Putin had accepted his resignation.

Tuleyev's move is unusual as top officials in Russia rarely resign over failings in the emergency response to deadly tragedies.

But the huge fire which ravaged a shopping centre in the Siberian industrial city of Kemerovo last Sunday, killing at least 64 people including 41 children, plunged Russia into shock.

Some parents lost all their children, and the youngest victim was a two-year-old boy.

Many people who lost relatives have said they perished because of inaction by firefighters and police lacking the necessary equipment and skills, while some said a cinema door was locked, trapping children inside.

Kremlin about-face

Tuleyev, who himself lost a young relative in the blaze, came under heavy criticism for failing to visit the scene of the tragedy in the first few days or meet with angry relatives.

Putin had initially refused to sack the 73-year-old governor despite a rare protest which saw thousands of people pack a square in Kemerovo on Tuesday, the same day Putin travelled to the scene of the tragedy.

Aman Tuleyev, shown with Putin after a mine explosion in 2010, was one of 

Russia's longest-serving top governors (AFP Photo/ALEXEI NIKOLSKY)

Tuleyev apologised to the president over the rally -- where protesters also called for Putin's resignation -- calling its organisers troublemakers.

Officials have said that multiple safety rules were violated, the fire alarm system was not working and staff did not follow correct emergency procedures.

The four-storey shopping mall was redeveloped several times and previously housed a sweet factory.

Seven people have been arrested in the aftermath of the blaze, investigators said.

The ailing Tuleyev had long been expected to leave the post.

The Kemerovo region of around 2.7 million people has traditionally been considered one of Russia's most troubled areas and some have feared that Tuleyev's departure could spark a leadership crisis there.

Tuleyev, who first became governor in the era of president Boris Yeltsin in 1997, is one of Russia's longest-serving top officials.

A makeshift memorial has been set up in tribute to the victims of a deadly shopping 
mall fire in the Siberian city of Kemerovo (AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

He was credited with helping pacify the region which was beset by miners' strikes in the turbulent 1990s but had come to symbolise the worst excesses of authoritarianism in his later years, critics say.

'Hated by everyone'

Lev Shlosberg, a former lawmaker and rights activist, said Tuleyev "had become senile", adding that the tragedy had clearly shown that Russia turned into a "mafia" state.

"This is not an emotional or symbolic but a very concrete state of the authorities: they do not represent people and absolutely do not defend the interests of citizens because they do not depend on them in any way and do not hear them," he wrote in a blog.

"The life of an ordinary man in a mafia state costs nothing."

"Tuleyev is an example of how one climbs down from the throne after failing to leave on time: disgraced and hated by everyone, with stains of blood and someone else's tears," one commentator said on Twitter.

Opposition politician Vladimir Milov said it would take "decades" for the region to recover from Tuleyev's 21-year rule.

Thousands of people packed a square in Kemerovo to protest over the Russian 

authorities' response to the deadly mall fire (AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Sergei Tsivilyov, who has been Tuleyev's deputy since March, has been appointed acting governor, the Kremlin said.

Tsivilyov is a business partner of one of Putin's closest lieutenants, Gennady Timchenko, who has been under sanctions imposed on Russia for its role in the Ukraine conflict.

Tsivilyov's behaviour in the aftermath of the blaze has raised eyebrows.

Igor Vostrikov, a man who lost his wife, sister and three children aged two, five and seven years, accused the authorities of treating people "like dirt".

Tsivilyov responded by accusing him of a "PR stunt" but later went down on his knees in front of the crowd massed in Kemerovo, asking for forgiveness over the fire.

Polls to elect a new governor will be held in September.

Gas company NAM is liable for Groningen earthquake victims’ stress

DutchNews, March 1, 2017

A condemned and shored-up cafe. Photo: Graham Dockery 

Gas company NAM is responsible for the ‘immaterial’ damage suffered by people living in the Groningen earthquake zone as well as the actual damage to their homes, judges in Assen said on Wednesday. 

The case was brought by 127 locals who say they have been subject to stress and anxiety because of the damage caused by the earthquakes. Thousands of homes in some parts of the province have been hit by subsidence as the ground settles following the extraction of natural gas. 

Research last year found that only 60% of householders felt safe in their homes after they had suffered quake damage. 

Lawyer Pieter Huitema said after the verdict that he would now be claiming financial compensation at a follow-up case. ‘It could range from €3,000 to €30,000 per person,’ he said. ‘Experts will take a look.’ 

NAM, a joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil, has already been held responsible for paying for the physical damage to property.

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Shell and Exxon secured ‘secret deal’ on Groningen gas production


"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“… 4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet; again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much…

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Six more officials charged in Flint water scandal

Yahoo – AFP, July 29, 2016

The damage to the Flint's water pipes may be long-lasting, if not permanent,
causing residents to use filters to make their water drinkable (AFP Photo/
Brett Carlsen)

  

Chicago (AFP) - Authorities in the US state of Michigan filed criminal charges Friday against six current and former state officials over lead water contamination in the city of Flint, signaling that their probe is expanding.

"Many things went tragically wrong in Flint. Some failed to act," Michigan State Attorney General Bill Schuette told a news conference as he announced the new charges.

"Some intentionally altered figures, and covered up."

More than 8,000 children are believed to have consumed lead-tainted water in the hardscrabble northern city, which has become a focus of the 2016 White House race.

Until now, three state workers had been criminally charged over the health crisis, which occurred in the aftermath of government officials' cost-saving effort in 2014 to switch the city's source of drinking water.

One took a plea agreement to cooperate in the probe.

Chief investigator Andrew Arena said his team was "starting to work our way up" in the areas of state government they were investigating, and expanding the probe "into other departments."

"This at the end will be the largest criminal investigation in the history of the state of Michigan," he said.

On Friday authorities charged another six current and former state employees for covering up evidence of water contamination. They face various felony and misdemeanor counts, including conspiracy, misconduct in office and tampering with evidence.

Flint residents Gladyes Williamson (C) holds a bottle full of contaminated water,

and a clump of her hair, alongside Jessica Owens (R), holding a baby bottle full

of contaminated water (AFP Photo/Mark Wilson)

Experts say the new source of water proved more corrosive on aging pipes and caused lead contamination that exposed thousands of children to the toxin.

"In essence, these individuals concealed the truth. They were criminally wrong to do so," Schuette said.

The highest ranked official charged is Liane Shekter Smith, who was fired in February from her post as chief of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality.

"Shekter Smith ignored reports that the (water treatment) plant was out of compliance, lied that the water plant was certified, and deliberately misled her superiors," Schuette said.

She faces a felony charge of misconduct in office and a misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty.

The others charged are: Nancy Peeler and Robert Scott, who are current employees in the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services; Corrine Miller, a former MDHHS employee; and Patrick Cook and Adam Rosenthal, current employees of the state's Department of Environmental Quality.

Todd Flood, special counsel for the Flint probe, said he was in talks with Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's office in connection with the investigation and that talks had been "constructive."

The damage to the city's water pipes may be long-lasting, if not permanent. Residents must use filters to make their water drinkable.

Last month officials also filed a lawsuit accusing a French company and a Texas firm of negligence and fraud, for their roles in the Flint water crisis.

Chinese prosecutors announce probe into deadly warehouse blasts

Chinese prosecutors are to probe whether deadly blasts at a warehouse in Tianjin were due to illegal storage of dangerous materials, state media say. The explosions killed 112 people and injured hundreds.

Deutsche Welle, 16 Aug 2015

State prosecutors in China said on Sunday they had started an investigation to see whether owners of the warehouse where the explosions occurred were guilty of violating laws on the storage of hazardous chemicals.

The announcement comes as authorities confirmed that hundreds of tons of the toxic chemical sodium cyanide had been on the site of the blasts late Wednesday evening in a mostly industrial area of the northern port city of Tianjin, 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Beijing.

Such a large amount would be a clear violation of rules cited by state media that a maximum of 10 tons of the chemical may be stored at any one time. Chinese laws on hazmat storage also stipulate that such substances should not be kept closer than 1 kilometer from residential areas and public structures.

The Chinese military is helping with cleanup operations

Sodium cyanide can form a flammable gas upon contact with water, and members of the public have questioned whether this fact had been taken into account by firefighters responding to the accident. At least 21 firefighters were among those killed in the warehouse fire and ensuing explosions, making the disaster the deadliest for the Chinese fire brigade in more than six decades.

Eighty-five of the 1,000 firefighters sent to combat the blaze remained unaccounted for on Sunday, with 88 bodies of victims still unidentified.

In addition to the 112 people confirmed dead, more than 700 people were hospitalized with sometimes serious injuries. Many were hurt by glass shattered in the huge fireballs that rose over the city on Wednesday night.

The explosions caused massive
blast waves

Official reassurances

In the face of internet rumors to the contrary, authorities have sought to reassure the public that the air in Tianjin remains safe to breathe, despite slightly raised levels of some pollutants.

In a bid to further dispel public mistrust, the Chinese premier Li Keqiang arrived in the city on Sunday afternoon and came within a kilometer of the blast site without wearing any form of protective clothing.

Li also visited those injured and displaced by the disaster.

The government has also shut down a total of 50 websites and 360 social media accounts for "creating panic by publishing unverified information or letting users spread groundless rumors," according to the Cyberspace Administration of China.

The Tianjin accident was one of the deadliest to occur in China in recent years. In June 2013, a fire at a poultry plant in the northeastern province of Jilin killed 121 people. In August 2014, 97 died in an explosion at a metal plant in eastern Jiangsu province.

tj/sgb (AP, dpa, AFP)

An aerial view of Tianjin Port, October 2012. (File photo/Xinhua)

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Safety standards criticized after Philippines fire kills dozens

Authorities in the Philippines say charges will be laid over the deaths of more than 70 people in a Manila footwear factory. Health and safety standards in the country are again under the microscope.

Deutsche Welle, 14 May 2015

The fire killed at least 72 people when it ripped through a two-storey rubber slipper factory on Wednesday. Investigators believe sparks from welding equipment ignited nearby flammable chemicals, triggering a huge explosion.

Firefighters have spent Thursday pulling charred bones from the ruins. Police say charges will be brought against those responsible.

"Someone will definitely be charged because of the deaths. It doesn't matter if it's an accident, people died. Right now, we are investigating to clearly define what happened. For sure, someone will be charged," said national police chief Leonardo Espina.

Espina added that arson investigators were helping police in their inquiries.

Windows covered to prevent 'even cats from escaping'

The building was located in the rundown district of Valenzuela, on the northern edge of Manila, among a long line of factories. A relative of four people employed at the factory said windows were heavily reinforced.

Dionesio Candido, said iron grills and fencing wire covered windows on the second floor that "could prevent even cats from escaping."

Candido said he was allowed by authorities to enter the building, where he saw charred remains "piled on top of each other."

"When I saw them, [I felt] any parent or sibling would not be able to identify the victims," he told news agency Reuters.

Survivors say workers toiled for below the minimum wage, were not taught or made aware of safety standards, and had to work near foul-smelling chemicals. Some said they were only able to escape because they were near one of the building's few exits.

"I had never been involved in a fire drill ever," said Janet Victoriano, a five-year employee who said she left by the front door when the blaze started.

Fires are relatively common in the Philippines, where safety regulations are lax. Wednesday's incident showed the government was not doing enough, one analyst said.

"The factory fire is a blow to the [President Benigno] Aquino administration, which has prided itself on improving workplace conditions and prioritizing compliance with labor standards," said Eufracia Taylor, Asia analyst at global risk analytics firm Verisk Maplecroft.

jr/msh (Reuters, AFP)

13 die in Goa in collapse of building under construction

Google – AFP, 4 January 2014

File picture of buildings under construction in New Delhi last year (AFP/File,

Prakash Singh)

Panaji — Thirteen bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a building under construction that collapsed "like a house of cards" in a coastal village in the Indian tourist state of Goa on Saturday, authorities said.

The residential building caved in around mid-afternoon, when some 50 daily wage labourers, were working on the site, police said.

"We have got 13 bodies from the wreckage. We expect the death toll to rise," Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told AFP.

A witness said the building collapsed like "a pack of cards".

Fire and emergency service crews rushed to the spot. Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers, shovels and bare hands, struggled to shift concrete slabs and other debris to free the trapped labourers.

Hundreds of onlookers stood watching the rescue efforts as police sought to shoo them away from the site, saying they were hampering access for machinery.

"The current priority is to rescue people trapped under the rubble and the government has also taken help of the army to clear the debris," Parikkar told the Press Trust of India separately.

Parrikar had been near the village to attend a state-sponsored folklore festival that was later cancelled by the government.

The building collapse, the latest in a string of deadly construction cave-ins in India recently, occurred in the seaside village of Canacona, south of the capital city of Panaji.

Initial reports said that the structure was five-storey apartment residence.

"We will immediately arrest the builder, the contractor and municipal officials involved in sanctioning this construction site," the chief minister said.

"I am personally monitoring the situation," he added.

He said that police had already filed complaints against those people involved in the construction of the building.

The bodies were shifted to a morgue at a nearby hospital.

Last September, a rundown five-storey residential block in India's financial hub Mumbai collapsed, killing 60 people.

The building had been listed by municipal authorities as needing "urgent repairs", according to local media reports.

Last April, another building collapse in Mumbai killed 74 people.

The incidents have highlighted shoddy construction and violations of the building code, amid burgeoning demand for housing in many parts of India and endemic corruption.

Falling buildings are a nationwide problem in India.

The British daily, The Guardian, collected statistics showing that 2,651 people were killed across India in 2012 due to the collapse of 2,737 structures, including houses and bridges.

Real estate experts say that many buildings collapse because construction codes are not followed and there is no attention to building safety.

In another of the worst recent Indian cases, 69 people were killed and more than 80 injured in a building collapse in the capital New Delhi in 2010.

Related Article:

Building collapses in India, killing several people and trapping others

Suspects Named in Indonesian Bridge Collapse Disaster

Jakarta Globe, Tunggadewa Mattangkilang & Farouk Arnaz, January 02, 2012

At least 18 were killed and 39 others injured when the the Mahakam II
Bridge in East Kalimantan collapsed. (Agency Photo)   

            

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"Bambang also said the police were also looking into the possibility of corruption being a factor in the shoddy construction of the bridges." Corruption in Indonesia? Surely that is not possible

Previous1Next

The police have named three suspects in the case of the collapse of a 10-year-old suspension bridge in East Kalimantan in November, an officer said on Sunday.

Comr. Gen. Sutarman, the National Police chief of detectives, said the three suspects had yet to be detained.

“Based on the results of the investigation and the evidence gathered, three people have been named as suspects by the East Kalimantan Police,” Sutarman said.

He identified them as Y.S., an official of the Kutai Kartanegara district public work office; S.T., a technical executor of the project; and MSF from Bukaka Tehnik Utama, the company in charge of the bridge’s maintenance and repairs.

He said the three suspects would be summoned for questioning at East Kalimantan police headquarters on suspicion of having violated two articles of the Penal Code pertaining to negligence leading to the loss of life.

At least 24 people died when the Rp 104 billion ($11.4 million) Mahakam II bridge, inaugurated in 2001, collapsed on Nov. 26. A dozen other people are still missing and feared dead.

Meanwhile, East Kalimantan Police chief Insp. Gen. Bambang Widaryatmo said that the suspects may be arrested after their questioning.

“We will summon them immediately and detain them,” Bambang said.

He added that the three suspects were named after the questioning of 57 witnesses, including five expert witnesses from five universities.

He said the investigation had been slow because some of the maintenance workers were among the victims and their equipment had sunk to the bottom of the Mahakam River when the bridge collapsed.

“We are also constrained because the experts who have been asked to provide explanations in relation to the collapse of the bridge are still awaiting the results of the analysis of several teams deployed from the concerned ministries to study the incident,” he said.

Bambang also said the police were also looking into the possibility of corruption being a factor in the shoddy construction of the bridges by studying all available documents, including the contract for the construction, signed in 1995.

“We are currently investigating suspicions of corruption in the bridge’s construction. For example, cables that should have been 100 centimeters long, were only 10 centimeters long,” Bambang said.

Meanwhile, Sri Wahyuningsih, a spokeswoman for the Kutai Kartanegara district, said that district authorities were continuing efforts to evacuate the victims and vehicles still believed to be at the bottom of the Mahakam River. The authorities will also lift the structure, a task expected to be complete by Feb. 17.

“There were three companies making offers and presentations [for the clearance contract], but we have yet to choose a winner,” she said.

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Public Works Ministry establishes bridge safety commission

Indonesia To Build World's Longest Bridge

Three die in Borneo as suspension bridge collapses

The bridge was reported to be the
longest in Borneo

West Java administration to tear down hundreds of villas in Puncak

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 04/20/2010 8:54 PM

West Java deputy governor Dede Yusuf said Tuesday that authorities would continue demolishing illegal villas in Puncak, West Java.

“Last year, we have destroyed almost 120 villas,” said Dede in Bandung, West Java, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com. "This year, we are eyeing to tear down around 100 illegal villas."

The West Java administration has ordered the demolition of illegal villas since 2008.

Land conversion from tea plantation to villas had become a trend in Puncak area over the past few years, said Dede.

Swallow factory produced dangerous waste

The Jakarta Post, Thu, 04/15/2010 12:54 PM

JAKARTA: Swallow sandal factory in West Jakarta was under investigation for alleged environmental violations when it was razed by fire last month, West Jakarta, environment office said Wednesday.

"The investigation process was almost final. As the factory no longer exists due to the fire, our efforts to file the case to court has halted," head the environment office sub division of environmental dispute mediation, Dulles Manurung, said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The dossier has been completed and would be submitted to the Attorney General's Office in order to issue an indictment letter and bring the case to court.

The fire razed the factory on March 11, killing four people.

"The factory didn't have waste treatment installations.

"We checked sample of the waste in January last year and confirmed that the factory dumped hazardous waste in public waterways," he said as quoted by temporaktif.com. -JP

60-meter tower collapses, killing one

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Badung, Bali, Thu, 04/08/2010 6:32 PM

A 60-meter tower collapsed Thursday, killing worker Muhammad Robil, 26, in Kutuh Village of Badung, Bali.

South Kuta Police chief Adj. Comr. Nanang Prihasmoko said that several workers were about to break the tower into pieces after a private television station ended its leasing contract when the accident occurred.

“The tower fell down all of a sudden because of rusty and porous tower pillars,” said Nanang.

Robil, who hailed from Batu of East Java, failed to secure himself from the incident as he was the only worker to work at the top of the tower.

Tangerang sees four lakes disappear due to buildings

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Banten | Mon, 02/23/2009 2:24 PM 

At least four of the existing nine small lakes, or situ in newly formed South Tangerang municipality have gone missing due the administration's lack of control over illegal occupation by local residents and housing developers.

Kusparmadi, a planology lecturer at the Indonesian Institute of Technology (ITI), who recently made an inventory of the lakes, said there were originally nine small lakes.

They are Situ Tujuh Muara and Situ Kedaung in Pamulang district; Situ Parigi in Pondok Aren district; Situ Rawa Kutub in North Serpong district; Situ Gintung, Situ Legoso, Situ Rumpang, Situ Bungur and Situ Rawa Antap in Ciputat district.

"After we made an inventory of the lakes through satellite imaging, we found Situ Legoso, Situ Rumpang, Situ Rawa Kutub and Situ Rawa Antap no longer existed," he said, adding the lakes could no longer been seen from satellite monitoring.

He called on the South Tangerang municipal administration to take measures to tackle the problem, saying the lakes played an important role in the local ecology as water catchment areas.

Yulianto, head of lake matters at the Tangerang regency administration's Public Works Agency, said he was aware of the disappearing lakes.

"The lakes were initially just left in neglect, so long-term sedimentation turned them shallow. And since there was no control by the administration, local residents took over parts of the lakes and began erecting houses one by one," he said.

He added the illegal occupation of the lake had reduced the capacity of the land to absorb rainwater, which in turn contributed to floods.

"I think this is homework for the new administration to work on."

South Tangerang is a spin-off from Tangerang regency. The municipality covers the four districts of Serpong, Setu, Pamulang and Ciputat.

The districts are home to housing complexes like BSD City, Gading Serpong, Alam Sutera and Villa Dago Pamulang.