REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PONTIANAK -- President Joko Widodo on Sunday morning inspected Pasar Tengah Market which caught fire on Friday night in Pontianak, West Kalimantan.
The President who was accompanied by Mme Iriana Joko Widodo, headed to the location at 8.45 a.m Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB).
"Anywhere, fire can happen if substandard electric cables are carelessly installed like this," President Joko Widodo, who is also fondly called Jokowi, said.
Jokowi entered the ruin area of house-shops which were burnt down by the fire and listened to complaints from representatives of the market operator.
The President made the inspection following the fire that razed the Pasar Tengah Market in Jalan Tanjungpura, Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Fariday night.
The fire took place as the President was conducting a working visit in West Kalimantan, during which he inaugurated the Equator Carnival event in the region on Saturday.
Previously when inaugurating the "Karnaval Khatulistiwa" (Equator Carnival) 2015, the president reminded the people in attendance that Indonesia has always had a rich water culture.
President Jokowi urged the residents of Kalimantan to revive marine tourism as an economic resource and transportation facility.
"Let us revive water tourism together in Pontianak. With that in mind and by saying "bismillahirrrahmanirrahim," I officially declare open the Equator Carnival," he said during his speech delivered from a podium built on the bank of the Kapuas river.
A parade of 100 boats was staged at the event, along with other attractive performances.
Thousands of people crowded the river bank, with many of them cheering from the Saleh Abdur Rahman mosque to welcome the President.
Widodo said he was glad that he could be among the people of Pontianak to personally see how rich Indonesia's water culture was.
"In view of that I wish you would preserve this culture. Rivers and water must be preserved so that they remain clean and no one should dump waste in them. Do you agree?" the President asked the people, who responded with a resounding "agree".
"Use river waters as an economic source and for transportation like we are seeing now," the President said drawing an applause from the crowd.
He also inspected the Pontianak container port on Kapuas river in West Kalimantan.
"This is unlike our five other big ports where most cargo is domestic and loading and unloading can be done in just two days or faster," he said.
The President hoped that the flow of goods and services from and to West Kalimantan through the port could be further improved.
He said if the dwelling time was hindering business as in many other ports, it could be shortened by improving the management of the Pontianak port, which could help it become a strategic port in Kalimantan.
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