JAKARTA —
Adyatama Tourism and Creative Economy Main Expert of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf), Nia Niscaya, on Monday (18/9) proposed that the Indonesian National Museum and the cultural assets and collections contained therein be designated as vital national objects. He conveyed this after the red rooster destroyed part of the National Museum building, last Saturday night (16/9).
“The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy proposes that cultural assets such as the Indonesian National Museum and its collections be designated as vital national objects so that they receive strict and maximum security,” he said.
Nia said that it is not only economic and defense assets that can become vital national objects. However, cultural assets such as the National Museum of Indonesia also deserve to be designated as vital objects.
National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta. (Facebook/museumnationalindonesia)
“So in the future, the Directorate of Culture will respond positively to this, with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy happy to collaborate to make it better in the future,” he added.
To respond to the situation after the fire at the National Museum of Indonesia. The Culture Directorate prioritizes two things, namely evacuating artifacts that can be moved to a safer place and collaborating with the police to carry out investigations.
“Those two things are being done. “This incident must never happen again,” said Nia.
The fire that hit the Indonesian National Museum occurred in building A. In building A there were 21 rooms and six of them were affected by the fire. Then, some of the museum collections affected by the fire were replicas in the prehistoric section.
Acting Head of the General Services Agency for Museums and Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology, Ahmad Mahendra, said that the alarm at the National Museum of Indonesia functioned well so that the fire did not spread to the main building.
“What is the acceleration of the fire coming from? Because of the alarm. So the firefighter came 10 minutes because there was a report. “Our security guard immediately called the fire brigade because there was a fire alarm, so it worked,” he said, Monday (18/9).
Nadiem Makarim inspects the National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta, after the fire, 17 September 2023. (Instagram/nadiemmakarim)
Meanwhile, Central Jakarta Metro Police Chief, Kombes Komarudin, said 16 people had been questioned and asked for information regarding the fire at the National Museum of Indonesia.
“We have clarified all 16 people in total. “So we have checked and clarified that these include security, employees and workers who were at the location at the time of the fire,” he said.
However, the cause of the fire at the National Museum of Indonesia is currently unknown.
“The team is still working to ask for information from the people at the scene. Not yet (about the cause of the fire). “It still takes time because the forensic laboratory team is still working,” said Komarudin. (aa/em)
