TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta administration will involve an independent team in the investigation into Thursday’s incident at City Hall, when cladding from the eastern side of the 24-story Blok G building came loose and fell onto the roof of the lower, adjacent Blok B building, where Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s office is located, as reported by Antara News.

Ahok said that the city would ask for assistance from the University of Indonesia (UI) and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

“We want a technical explanation from experts. We have also asked the police to investigate the incident to find out whether or not sabotage was involved,” he told reporters at City Hall.

“If the incident was caused by technical issues, then there may have been fraudulent practices involved in the construction,” Ahok added.

According to Ahok, the contractor, PT Jaya Konstruksi, had vowed to repair the damage.

The incident, which occurred at 4:20 p.m. on Thursday, caused panic, prompting dozens of civil servants at the office to evacuate. The majority of workers had gone home at 4 p.m., while Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was not at City Hall at the time of the incident. No one was injured in the incident.

Housing and Administrative Building Agency head Yonathan Pasodung declined to reveal the details of the incident.

“I can’t explain the cause yet. A team comprising a planning team, project executor and a supervisory team discussed the issue in an impromptu meeting held immediately after the incident. We have checked all the documents. If everything was carried our according to the documents, then why did it happen?” Yonathan queried.

He pointed out, however, that he could not reveal the evaluation results.

“I, as the project executor, can’t reveal the conclusion because I would be subjective. That’s why we need assistance from the UI or ITB laboratory. The independent team will reveal the reason,” he said, adding that he predicted the result would be completed within a week.

The agency would also check the facade on the west side of the building to prevent similar damage on that side of the building from occurring.

He gave assurances that all civil servants working at City Hall were safe.

The Blok G building was built 30 years ago, while the cladding was added in 2010 and 2011.

Yonathan said the building was in an otherwise good condition.

Ahok was in the middle of a meeting when he heard a thunderous sound from the rooftop.

ANTARA