Mount Merapi gushes hope for local farmers' prosperity<\/p>\n
By Haryoso<\/p>\n
MAGELANG, Central Java (JP): For the thousands of farmers who
\nlive on the slopes of Mount Merapi, the burning lava and deadly
\nrain of hot ash pouring out of the volcano are a sign of coming
\nprosperity rather than a threat.<\/p>\n
They believe the most imminent danger is the worsening food
\nshortage. Prices have soared fourfold over the past year and the
\nlocals have turned to cassava and corn because rice is
\nunaffordably expensive.<\/p>\n
The farmers say the lava and ash will eventually make their
\nland more fertile, although the recent eruptions have damaged
\nthis season's crops.<\/p>\n
The 2,911 meter tall volcano, one of the world's most active,
\nerupted on July 11 and is continuing to show signs of activity.
\nThe threat of a second eruption prompted thousands of residents
\nof the mountain's southwestern slope to evacuate the area for two
\ndays last week.<\/p>\n
When Minister of Social Affairs Yustika Syarifuddin visited
\nKrinjing village on July 14 and advised locals to move
\npermanently for their own safety, the villagers politely rejected
\nthe idea. Some even laughed at her suggestion and told her the
\nreal danger was the food shortage, not the coughing volcano.<\/p>\n
\"The minister should have offered us cheap foodstuffs,\" said
\nSukadi, a farmer.<\/p>\n
\"We are not interested in moving. If the mountain poses an
\nimminent danger then we can temporarily evacuate the area,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Villagers said the eruption had made their lives twice as hard
\nbecause the hot ash destroyed their crops.<\/p>\n
Krinjing village chief Agus Priyono said his people were in
\nsuch dire need of basic foodstuffs that they could play down the
\nthreat posed by the rumbling volcano.<\/p>\n
The 1,880 inhabitants of Krinjing are farmers. They grow
\nmaize, carrots, sweet potato and tobacco. They also collect
\nfirewood which they sell in towns at the foot of the mountain.<\/p>\n
Farmer Bambang Suyogo, 38, said he and his neighbors were
\nsurviving by consuming maize and sweet potatoes. Rice, tempeh and
\nsoybean curd, their staple foods in normal times, have become
\nluxuries.<\/p>\n
Bambang earns about Rp 1,500 a day from collecting firewood.<\/p>\n
\"The money is only enough to buy sweet potato or maize, not
\nrice, which now costs Rp 2,500 per kilogram,\" he said.<\/p>\n
There are fear the food shortage will lead to cases of
\nmalnutrition in the affected villages. Before leaving for a hard
\nday collecting firewood in the forest, villagers will only eat
\nroasted cassava or sweet potato and drink a glass of water.<\/p>\n
At 11.00 a.m. they return home for a plate of maize with sauce
\nand some vegetable for their lunch. They usually have the same
\nmenu for dinner. A meal of rice with salted fish, tofu and tempeh
\nis considered extraordinary. Now, even vegetables are getting
\nhard to find because of the raining ash.<\/p>\n
\"This year has been really tough,\" Suwaji, 42, a Krinjing
\nvillager, said.<\/p>\n
\"My family now eats whatever is available. Over the past
\nmonths we have survived on maize or sweet potato because rice has
\nbeen too expensive.\"<\/p>\n
Suwaji said he had no problem with eating maize or sweet
\npotatoes once or twice a day, but added that he tried to ensure
\nthat his children ate three meals a day consisting of rice, tofu
\nand tempeh whenever possible.<\/p>\n
Health crisis<\/p>\n
Despite their untold hardships, Krinjing villagers have not
\nlost hope for a better future.<\/p>\n
\"One day,\" Suwaji said, \"a time will come again when we can
\nhave rice, tofu and tempeh every day, or even meat. So long as we
\nkeep working hard, this difficult time will pass.\"<\/p>\n
\"The (volcanic material from) Mount Merapi has damaged our
\ncrops. But later the material will make our soil much more
\nfertile and prosperity will return,\" he said, beaming with
\noptimism.<\/p>\n
There is truth in Suwaji's conjecture. The volcano's wrath
\nwill become a blessing for a great number of people living near
\nthe mountain and along rivers which spring from it.<\/p>\n
When it cools, volcanic debris settles in the rivers as sand,
\ngravel and rock and can be used as building material which many
\npeople sell.<\/p>\n
The eruptions have also posed health problems for people
\nliving close to the mountain. Respiratory diseases and sore eyes
\nare the most common problems, although contaminated drinking
\nwater, which people fetch from shallow wells, has also caused
\ndifficulties.<\/p>\n
Central Java Governor Soewardi said he had sent foodstuffs and
\nmedicines to affected villages in the Magelang regency.<\/p>\n
The provincial government has sent rice, sugar, noodles,
\nmedicines, medical equipment and medical personnel.<\/p>\n
\"I hope the aid will reach the people it is intended for,\"
\nsaid Soewardi.<\/p>\n
However, Soewardi expressed his hope that the people would
\nmove permanently to safer areas. \"If they are interested in being
\nresettled, there are safer and better places to go. Then they
\nwill not have to move every time Mount Merapi erupts.\"<\/p>\n
Anthropologist M. Fadjar from Diponegoro University in
\nSemarang said it was difficult to persuade Merapi people to move
\nbecause of the strong mental bond which they had with their
\nancestral land.<\/p>\n
\"They believe that they should die in the place where they
\nwere born. They believe that life and death at the place of
\norigin is God's will,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Moreover, he argued, they felt that if they moved to another
\nplace, they would have no guarantee of an improvement in the
\nquality of their lives, especially with the economic situation as
\nit currently stands.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mount-merapi-gushes-hope-for-local-farmers-prosperity-1447893297",
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