MT KELUD ERUPTION AFFECTS INDONESIAN TOURISM

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 14 (Antara) - Mount Kelud's eruption in East Java last Thursday night which claimed at least six lives, forced the evacuation of more than 76 thousand residents and the closure of seven airports, has affected Indonesian tourism.          Seven airports and one airstrip remain closed on Saturday, as of 10 am local time, due to volcanic ash from Mount Kelud in East Java.  Head of Data and Information Center of National Disaster Mitigation Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement on Saturday that the closed airports were Juanda (Surabaya), Adi Sumarmo (Solo), Adi Sucipto (Yogyakarta) Abdulrahman Saleh (Malang), Ahmad Yani (Semarang), Husein Sastranegara (Bandung) besides the Tunggul Wulung airstrip in Cilacap.          "The runway at Iswahyudi Airport of Madiun also stands closed," Nugroho said.          Director General of Air Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation Herry Bakti meanwhile stated that the seven airports have been temporarily closed because Mount Kelud's eruption had scattered volcanic ash in the area, which drastically reduced the visibility.          The volcanic ash also endangers flights as it can damage the aircraft's jet engines, he noted.          He had also issued a "Notice to Airmen," which also resulted in the temporary closure of the airports.          On Friday, a total of 332 flights from Juanda were cancelled along with 28 from Adisumarmo, 110 from Adisucipto, 76 from Ahmad Yani, 16 from Abdurrahman Saleh, and 24 from Husein Sastranegara.

MT MERAPI BECOMING MORE DANGEROUS

By  Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 5 (ANTARA) - Mount Merapi, one of the world's most active volcano near Yoyakarta in Central Java, has since its eruption last week continued to show its 'anger', with another eruption on Friday, spewing hot clouds and killing again at least 64 residents.          The increased activities of Mt Merapi prompted the authorities to extend the danger zones from a radius of 15 to 20 km from its crater. It has forced about 40,000 people living near the mountain  to flee to the nearest safer place, Yoyakarta.        Up to 64 people had been found dead after the eruption at 00.40 hours on Friday, consisting of 34 males and 30 females.           With the latest developments on Friday,  President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decided to directly monitor the volcano's conditions and emergency response efforts. He moved his office  temporarily to the Presidential Palace in Yogyakarta.           "I will depart (for Yogyakarta) soon because I have to join the people there to ensure that I am together with them," he told a press conference at the Presidential Office. The President said the presence of temporary office in Yogyakarta would speed up the decision-making process in a state of disaster crisis.           "I plan to stay at Gedung Negara building. I hope both central and regional officials will carry out all the tasks I have instructed," he said.             He instructed the Indonesian military (TNI) to form a special brigade and the Indonesian police (Polri) to form a special task force under the command of the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB).            The BNPB will soon hold a coordination meeting to follow up President Yudhoyono's instruction regarding control of emergency response operations in areas affected by the Mt Merapi eruptions.          "BNPB will soon hold a meeting with the local governments, the regional police and military command chiefs," Wisnu Wijaya, director for disaster alertness affairs of the BNPB, told ANTARA from Sleman through the phone.           He said the president had instructed that the emergency response operations should be under one command,  BNPB head Syamsul Maarif said. BNPB would be assisted by the governors of Yogyakarta, Central Java, chief of the Diponegoro Military Command, the chiefs of Central Java and Yogyakarta Regional Police.          "To follow up the instruction we will hold a coordination meeting soon," he said. Representatives from the central government would also be involved in the emergency response operations.  The agenda of the meeting would among others include a review of the needs of refugees, possible new sites for refugees and others.           But Wisnu could not yet ascertain the places that would possibly be made new refugee centers. "We should discuss it first in a meeting so that we can  not yet ascertain it," he said.           In the meantime, the military (TNI) will set up field hospitals and public kitchens in several places to serve evacuees from the Mount Merapi eruptions,  Wisnu Wijaya said.          In line with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's instruction TNI would field a brigade to help in the Merapi disaster mitigation efforts. The brigade consists of medical, engineering, marine and transport battalions.          He said the military brigade would set up field hospitals, activate all hospitals in the region and set up a public kitchen.          It would also mobilize transport means to move people from one place to another, he said. The brigade would be under the coordination of BNPB chief, Syamsul Maarif. President Yudhoyono has named BNPB as the chief coordinator of the Merapi disaster mitigation efforts.          "We will set up field hospitals and public kitchens in several locations," he said.     The TNI has also made ready six Hercules C-130 and three C-212 Cassa aircraft in Abdurahman Saleh airbase in Malang, East Java, in case they are needed for mass evacuation of Merapi eruption victims.           The airbase's commander, Air Commodore Agus Dwi Putranto, said to reporters in Malang on Friday the aircraft had been used to carry aid to Wasior, Papua, which was recently hit by flash floods.          Mount Merapi first erupted on Tuesday last week, killing 23 people, including Mbah Maridjan, the volcano's `spiritual' caretaker, and forced 20,000 others to evacuate.           Now, around 40,000 evacuees are staying in Yogyakarta, following its huge eruption   on Friday, Yogyakarta governor Sri Sultan Hamgengku Buwono X said.          "The number is still being recorded but for the time being it has reached 40,000 or rising almost 100 percent after the danger zone is expanded to a radius of 20 kilometers away from the crater," he said.           He said the evacuees were only the ones accommodated at Maguwoharjo Stadium and Youth Center in Sleman. "We do not know the number of evacuees in the other parts of the province or the city. It is still being recorded," he said.          He said the government of  Yogyakarta province,  where a part of the volcano is located, had asked for centralizing the evacuation to Maguwoharho Stadium and the Youth Center to ease coordination and services.           The two places are located around 30 kilometers from the mountain's peak and so are quite safe. "We are very concerned over the number of deaths due to the eruption early on Friday. Many people staying within a radius of 10 to 20 kilometers were not ready and therefore many had fallen victims," he said. (T.A014/A/HAJM/00:35/a014) 06-11-2010 00:34:5

MERAPI RESIDENTS NEED RELOCATION

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 3 (ANTARA) - Tens of thousands of villagers living in the slopes of Mt Merapi in Central Java which has erupted several times since last week,  indeed need relocation, yet the government seems unlikely to move them to other permanent locations.          Areas in the danger zones have been crippled by hot ashes and other volcanic avalanches. Mt Merapi --which erupted on Tuesday last week, killing 23 people and forcing 20,000 others to evacuate -- erupted again on Wednesday afternoon which expert said three time bigger than that of last week.          Seeing the impact of the eruption,  Yogyakarta governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said that some people displaced by Mt. Merapi eruption may need permanent relocation from their villages as their farming fields would not produce any crops in the next 10 years.          "What we can consider for now is that those farming fields would not be able to be planted with crops for the next ten years. So, from where can these people eat (if not we relocate them)?" the Sultan was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying on Wednesday.           However, it seems that the government would like to rebuild residents' houses rather than relocating them.           Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Jufri said that locals living on the slopes of Mt Merapi should not  be relocated as a result of the volcano's activities.  "People living around Mt Merapi already understand (the volcano's conditions) so that there is no need to relocate them," the minister said after inspecting a refugees evacuation center (TPA) in Muntilan subdistrict, Magelang district, on Tuesday.          The minister said the  people living around Mt Merapi had been residing  there for years, even from generation to generation. "What remains to be done is to try to understand  Merapi's behavior where in certain conditions, when posing a danger threat, the local people should avoid the disaster, and after a disaster is over, they return again," he said.          According to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,  the conditions of the Merapi victims were different from the conditions experienced by the victims of tsunami in Mentawai Islands, where their settlements must be located from coastal areas to other places with a height of about 30 to 40 meters above the sea surface.         Therefore, the government is even planning to reconstruct and  rebuild the houses which were destroyed by Mount Merapi eruption. Visiting a refugee site at Purwobinangun village in Seleman district, Central Java, President Yudhoyono said the government had a duty to rebuild the houses of the victims of Mt Merapi eruption.          The president said the government would help the victims from emergency response until the reconstruction and rehabilitation process of the houses being destroyed in the disaster.          "The government will help rebuild the houses destroyed by hot clouds from Mt Merapi, but the important thing is that the victims should feel safe first at the refugee shelters provided by the government," the president said.          For this purpose, Yudhoyono asked local governments to finish the emergency response until Mt Merapi no longer endangered and posed a threat to the local people.          He said that local governments should work until their duties were finished so that the locals could return to their respective homes. "You should not be negligent. You should finish your tasks until the end of Merapi's activities, until our brothers could return to their respective places," the president said.           After the end of the emergency response the local governments still have to continue working on the rehabilitation phase and clean places covered by volcanic ashes.          "Usually there is blessing in the form of soil fertility where locals could capitalize on," he said.          In the meantime, on Wednesday afternoon, Mt Merapi erupted again which was described as three times bigger than that on October 26 last week. Following the eruption, head of the Geological Disaster Mitigation and Volcanology Center, Surono, said his side would propose the extension of the danger zone  of the world most active volcano.          He said that the danger zone should be extended from 10 km to 15 km from the mount's peak. If the danger zones are expanded it would cover some of the refugee camps.          However,  Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X said there was no decision yet to move Merapi evacuees in Umbulharjo, Kepuharjo and Glagaharjo to safer places.  "Indeed the head of the Geological Disaster Mitigation and Volcanology Center, Surono, has said that the safety zone would be expanded up to 15 kilometers away from the peak. However it was  still a mere proposal which still has yet to be discussed further with the ministry of energy and mineral resources in Jakarta," the governor of Yogyakarta province where part of the Merapi mountain is located said at the Merapi Disaster Main Command Post here on Wednesday evening.          He said until now no evacuee had been moved from the three evacuation centers yet.          The Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency has said it would expand the safe zone from 10 kilometers to 15 kilometers away from the mountain's peak.       The mountain erupted again on Wednesday evening and at 2.44pm it spewed huge hot clouds of ash for more than an hour as far as nine kilometers away.          "We have decided to expand the zone to cover evacuation centers because it was reported the flow of hot clouds had now gone quite far," Surono said.     (T.A014/a/H-NG/a014) 04-11-2010 00:11:

MORE VOLCANOS NEED TO WATCH

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 29 (ANTARA) - While Mt Merapi near Yogyakarta -- which erupted on Tuesday killing at least 32 people, was still continuing its volcanic activities on Friday, people had to keep an eye on  other volcanoes which were also showing activities.          Besides Mt Merapi in Sleman, Yogyakarta, Mt Anak Krakatau on the Sunda Strait and Mt Dempo in Pagaralam district, South Sumatera, were also showing activities. These two later volcanos' activities were however not so worrisome.          Even though not so worrisome,  the status of Mount Anak Krakatau on the Sunda Strait has been raised to above normal level since in the past several days. The chief of Mount Krakatau Observation Post in Hargopancurang, Rajabasa, South Lampung, Sumatra, Andi Suardi, said here on Friday the mountain's activity had increased since four days ago.         But the status of Mount Dempo in Pagaralam district, South Sumatera, is until now still at level I  meaning the volcano's activity is normal although tens of quakes have happened following  Merapi's eruption and an earthquake  in Mentawai.          "Volcanic and tectonic quakes have happened many times after the eruption of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta and the earthquake in Mentawai, West Sumatera, but they were of low magnitude so that they did  influence Mount Dempo's activity which was at level II in  2008," SLamet, the chief of a Mount Dempo Monitoring post, said here Friday.          As regard to the Mt Anak Krakatau, its activities have been increasing.          "The intensity of shallow and deep volcanic tremors accompanied by eruptions has been increasing," Andi Suardi said. Based on observation a total 136 eruptions were recorded to happen on Friday followed by spewing of volcanic ash while on Thursday only 30 eruptions occurred.           He said a total of 21 deep and 27 shallow volcanic tremors were recorded on Friday.           "The volume of eruptions has been increasing while volcanic tremors tend to decline," he said. He said the increasing activity of the mountain was a natural phenomena and it could happen anytime.          "Normally eruptions maximally reached only 10 times a day," he said. He said monitoring would be intensified after  the Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) raised the status of the mountain to an above normal level.          While the activities of Mt Dempo, particularly on the day when Mt Merapi erupted on Tuesday, caused several qakes.           Slamet said, according to data on seismographs on Tuesday (Oct 26), six  volcanic and tectonic quakes  happened on that day , and on Wednesday (Oct 27) volcanic quakes occurred  six times.          "Actually, Mount Dempo is still a priority on the list of volcanoes being watches by  the Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center in Bandung, even though its activity is still normal or at level I after the Mount Merapi eruption," he said.           He said there had been no increase in Mount Dempo's volcanic activity though the condition was hard to observe because of thick fog and rains.          "A few weeks ago, Mount Dempo showed an increase in its volcanic and tectonic activity although  they remained  small. "But we cannot predict its future activity, and the only thing we can do now is remain alert," he said.           The Center's team from Bandung came and installed additional recording devices at a height of 2.000 meters above sea level to support  devices on the peak of Mount Dempo in case of damage,  he said.           "Since the additional devices were installed, Mount Dempo has two mountain activity recorders, called seismometer completed with antenna which will receive signals to be transferred into the seismograph at the post," he said.          In fact, Slamet added, global positioning system (GPS) devices had also been set up at four places around the mountain which function to identify the volcanic position.           In the meantime,  Mount Merapi which erupted last Tuesday again spewed  hot clouds of ash at around 11.40 a.m. on Friday.           The hot clouds were clearly visible from Samiran village, Selo subdistrict, Boyolali district, Central Java.  At 11.25 a.m. the volcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces also spewed  hot clouds of ash but on a smaller scale.           Tri Mujianto of the Mount Merapi observatory post at Jrakah village said the volcano spewed hot clouds of ash five times on Friday until 11.40 a.m.           A total of 17,776 people in Sleman district, Yogyakarta, and 13,757 people in Magelang district, Central Java, have so far been evacuated to safer places following the eruption of Mt Merapi on Tuesday.***3*** (T.A014/A/ H-NG/A014) 29-10-2010 23:52:

SINABUNG REFUGEES NEED AID AS DISEASES BREAKING OUT

 

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Aug 30 (ANTARA)  - About 30,000 refugees from the  Mount Sinabung  eruption in North Sumatra  that happened early Sunday are in urgent need of medicines and other humanitarian aid as various diseases such as respiratory problems and diarrhea have begun to break out.          A member of a medical team in an emergency clinic in Brastagi, Maria Tarigan (28), said she had received reports from refugees about diarrhea outbreaks  on Monday. In the meantime, respiratory problems have also begun to affect the displaced persons.          Hariati Sebayang (38), an evacuee in a refugee tent in Brastagi, said she and two other members of her family were suffering from respiratory problems.          According to Maria Tarigan, her team had provided medication. "The government has distributed different kinds of assistance such as blankets, food, medicines. "We found in the field that the diarrhea mostly affected children," Maria Tarigan  said.          In order to help evacuees, the central government has set aside funds totaling Rp15 billion to assist the victims of the Mount Sinabung eruption for 10 days.          Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono said on Monday that the funds would be used to provide food, medication and security. "We hope refugees will  be assisted so that they will  at least enjoy a little  convenience because it is not comfortable to stay at emergency or makeshift shelters," he said.          He said  the funds were taken from the state budget and  disbursed by the National Disasters Mitigation Agency (APBN).          Agung Laksono said that up to Monday, the number of evacuees had reached 30,000, but he expected that conditions would improve and the number of refugees returning to their homes would also increase.          "Assistance needed by refugees such as blankets, food, milk for infants and sarongs are being supplied. In the emergency tents, they need blankets because rains also often fall and the weather is cool. The latest information said conditions are beginning to improve, the thick smoke has started to dissipate  and many evacuees are preparing to return to their homes," Agung Laksono said.          He said  the government felt it was not yet necessary to declare the volcanic  eruption a national disaster. The central government had also instructed regional government heads to provide assistance.          "I received a report this morning that many people are ready to extend a helping hand. We have instructed the regional governments both at  provincial and district levels, to assist them," he said.         In the meantime, the Ministry of Social Affairs has also sent logistics and shelters for the victims of Mt Sinabung eruption.         "Logistics and shelters have been channeled through the social affairs services of North Sumatra," Syafii Nasution of the Social Affairs Ministry said.          He said that the assistance consisted of  50 tons of rice, 960 bottles of soy sauce, 400 cartons of sardines, 120 bottles of cooking oil, 5.000 pieces of blankets, 27,000 face masks and 76  tents.          The ministry had also channeled 3,000  sarongs, 2,000 long-sleeve and long-pant  clothes, 200 mats, 4  mobile public kitchens, one truck and one mobile water tank to meet the evacuees' emergency needs.          He said that based on updated data, the number of refugees until 11 am on Monday was recorded at  between 18,834 and 20,000 from 29 villages in 17 sub districts of Tanah Karo district where Mount Sinabung is located.           Because local residents fled their homes, most of the villages on  the slopes of the mountain were almost totally deserted, but police and military personnel were mobilized in the region to maintain order and security in the deserted villages.  A total of 486  servicemen and  378 police personnel were deployed.          Refugees shelters lay  scattered in a number of places such as the city of Brastagi and Kabanjahe. Some stayed in Jamburs (village halls) which are normally  used by Karo tribal people to hold  meetings or marriage parties.          Agung Laksono asked the refugees to remain in the emergency shelters  or other safe places until the alert status of Mount Sinabung was lifted. "As long as  the alert status is still in place people are asked to remain in the evacuation centers. They are still staying in 15-17 places," he said.           According to BNPB data, up to 9 am on Monday, two victims had died. After the Vulcanological and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency (PVMBG) raised Mt Sinabung status to alert level, the BPBD directly observed the location and coordinated the establishment of public kitchens, drinking water tanks and washing, bathing, toilet facilities at the refugee camping sites.          The 2,460-meter-high Mt Sinabung showed its first volcanic activity on Saturday, Aug 18, 2010 and spewed black smoke that completely covered its crater. It erupted at 0.15 am on Sunday, after lying dormant for 400 years. It last erupted in 1600. On Monday it erupted again, spewing white clouds of smoke and ash more than 2,000 yards (meters) into the air.***3*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/22:15/H-YH) 30-08-2010 22:24: