The aftermath of a devastating fire at the PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel plant in Central Sulawesi province reveals a grim toll, with the death count climbing to 18 and 44 individuals sustaining injuries, as confirmed by officials on Tuesday.
The incident, which occurred on Sunday morning at the China-owned nickel smelter in Morowali regency, claimed the lives of 10 Indonesian workers and eight Chinese workers, according to Dedy Kurniawan, the spokesperson for the industrial complex housing the plant. Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.
Preliminary findings suggest that molten metal residue leaked from the smelter’s furnace, coming into contact with flammable materials. This contact led to the collapse of a furnace wall and ignited a blaze, as explained by Kurniawan.
Indonesia, with the world’s largest nickel reserves crucial for electric vehicle batteries, aims to be a global leader in nickel production. However, safety concerns have been raised, especially in the largest nickel processing area, where Chinese firms are significant investors.
The PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), a joint venture between China’s Tsingshan Steel Group and Indonesia’s Bintang Delapan Group, houses the affected facility. The integrated nickel-based industrial park spans 2,000 hectares and employs over 81,000 people, including 10,000 foreign workers, predominantly from China.
In the period from 2019 to 2023, more than 30 workers lost their lives at two nickel plants, with the majority of Chinese ownership in Morowali and North Morowali regencies. IMIP alone recorded 20 fatalities, according to Muhammad Taufik, director of the Central Sulawesi Mining Action Network.
Investigations involving regional and national police, forensic specialists, and medical personnel are underway. The plant will remain closed indefinitely pending the investigation results, stated provincial police chief Inspector Gen. Agus Nugroho.
A separate team, including representatives from the Manpower Ministry, the Chinese embassy, and industry experts, is also investigating, according to Arnold Firdaus, head of the provincial manpower office.
Firdaus emphasized the need for cross-sectoral collaboration to address challenges in worker safety in the nickel industry. While acknowledging the industry’s susceptibility to accidents, he asserted that robust occupational health and safety measures were in place and regularly monitored.
Ferdy Hasiman, a mining researcher at Alpha Research Database Indonesia, expressed concerns about the opacity of Chinese companies in the nickel industry and called for transparency. In a speech at Georgetown University in November, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo pitched the country’s nickel industry as a driver for the green economy.
Despite Chinese investment bringing technology transfers, job creation, and infrastructure development, concerns persist about environmental degradation, safety practices, and working conditions in Indonesia's nickel sector. China's significant role as an investor in Indonesian projects, particularly through the Belt and Road Initiative, continues to draw attention, with over 42,000 Chinese workers accounting for about 44% of all expatriates in Indonesia in 2022, according to the Ministry of Manpower.
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