Merapi victims need resettlement<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Local government officials are still
\nundecided as to where the displaced 3,000 victims of the Merapi
\neruption will be resettled.<\/p>\n
The 3,000 villagers lost their homes in the Nov. 22 Merapi
\neruption and now live in makeshift tents in evacuation centers
\nthrown up by the Sleman regency government.<\/p>\n
The government has permanently closed the worst-hit hamlet of
\nTurgo and declared several others "no-entry" until the volcano
\nreturns to normal.<\/p>\n
Approximately 5,500 people from 11 villages near Mount Merapi
\nwere moved to safe grounds in Sleman following the eruption,
\nwhich has so far claimed more than 50 lives. Dozens are still
\nmissing and feared buried by hot lava the mount gushed.<\/p>\n
At least 12 hectares of land must be made available for the
\ndisplaced people because they refuse resettlement outside of
\nJava, under the government-sponsored transmigration program,
\nSleman regent Arifin Ilyas said yesterday.<\/p>\n
"Frankly speaking, we still have no idea about where to find
\nsubstitute land to resettle the people," Arifin told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
He said he would continue to try and convince the people to
\njoin the transmigration program.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto has personally advised that the people take
\npart in the program. Business tycoon Probosutedjo has also
\noffered the villagers work in his plantations in Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Under the transmigration program, people from densely
\npopulated areas like Java and Bali, are moved to sparsely
\npopulated islands like Sumatra, Kalimantan and Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
Heavy rains pounded Mount Merapi yesterday for an hour and a
\nhalf, but there was no word of calamity caused by sliding lava
\nfrom the slopes.<\/p>\n
"Had it not stopped in three hours, stones at the bottom of
\nthe Boyong river (which begins on Merapi) would have been washed
\ndown by the flow of water. This would have been quite
\ndisastrous," Mas Atje Purbawinata from the volcano monitoring
\nagency said. (har\/sim)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/merapi-victims-need-resettlement-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}