Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) said the National Museum of Indonesia (MNI) or Elephant Museum plans to close for the next year after the fire on September 16.
“We will close the museum temporarily, maybe even for a year, we will carry out (repairs) properly until it is okay, then we will open it,” explained Secretary of the Directorate General of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Fitra Arda, at a public discussion at the Toeti Heraty Museum, Menteng, Central Jakarta, Monday.
After the museum stated that it would temporarily close the museum until a time to be determined, Fitra estimated that the entire process, from building renovation to restoration of the museum collection, would be carried out over the next year.
However, Fitra said that various MNI services can still be used, virtually or using other museum units.
“But it doesn’t reduce services, services can still be used,” he said.
Until now, Fitra said that the Ministry of Education and Culture is working with the police and experts to follow up on the impact of the fire incident.
His party will carry out archaeological technical studies, building audits, museum security and security studies, collection studies, human resources, and risk management. Apart from that, handling of affected collections and overall arrangement of the museum were also carried out.
The MNI fire, located on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Gambir, Central Jakarta, is thought to have originated from an electrical short circuit that occurred in the building of the museum renovation project.
Previously, the Head of the Fire Handling and Rescue Service (Kasudin Gulkarmat) Asril Rizal said that an electrical short circuit was the trigger for the National Museum fire, specifically in the Block A Building which is the museum’s collection exhibition space.
It is known that the fire came from behind Building A of the National Museum so the fire did not start from inside the building, but the impact caused several rooms at the back of Building A to be affected by the raging fire. (mhn/bbs)
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