Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - The fatal eruptions of Mount Merapi have claimed several hundreds of lives and crippled the people`s economy in the volcanic disaster-hit areas.<\/p>\n
The Mount Merapi`s deadly eruptions that occurred on October 26 and November 5 were expected to have caused economic losses with total worth of Rp3.4 trillion in Sleman district, Yogyakarta Province.<\/p>\n
According to Head of Sleman district, Sri Purnomo, the losses were caused by ruins of such business sectors as tourism, culinary, commercial accommodation, agriculture, plantation, and livestock.<\/p>\n
\"The total economic losses are caused by the deaths of our people`s economic sectors, such as commercial accommodation, tourism, culinary, agriculture, plantation, and livestock,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"We are attempting to restore our people`s economy,\" Sri Purnomo told participants of a seminar on \"the post-eruption recovery program for Yogyakarta\" here.<\/p>\n
In helping restore his people`s economy, the government would build temporary shelters for the evacuees despite the Mount Merapi`s \"watch out\" status which remained unchanged until Thursday (Nov. 18).<\/p>\n
The shelters were mainly functioned as \"temporary houses\" for the Mount Merapi eruption refugees but they were also expected to boost the people`s economy, he said.<\/p>\n
\"We have prepared necessary things for the shelter construction process, such as needed land. We hope the shelters will enable our people to restore their economic lives.\"<\/p>\n
\"The shelter construction sites are also not far from their villages of origin so that their economic culture can relatively be maintained,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Mount Merapi evacuees also looked reluctant to stay at the shelters built a bid far from their villages of origin. Therefore, the related parties had chosen some shelter sites, he said.<\/p>\n
The government had respectively prepared three hectares for the shelter construction site in Umbulharjo and 13 hectares for Kepuharjo village, Cangkringan sub-district, he said.<\/p>\n
The same shelters would also be set up in the villages of Glagaharjo, Wukirsari, and Argomulyo, Cangkringan subdistrict, he said.<\/p>\n
\"After all of our people have stayed at the shelters, we are then going to talk to them about reconstruction and rehabilitation matters,\" he said.<\/p>\n
About the total losses that locals suffered from the Mount Merapi eruptions, Anggito Abimanyu, the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) economist, said the amount was \"huge\".<\/p>\n
The amount of those economic losses could rise due to the volcano`s ongoing unstable activities, he said.<\/p>\n
Abimanyu said the accumulative economic losses could reach Rp5 trillion.
\n\"Our state budget cannot cover the need. What we need to think about now is how to restore our people`s economy between four and five years from now,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In an effort to accelerate the people`s economic recovery, the Yogyakarta city`s industrial, trade, cooperative and agriculture division organized an exhibition for small and medium enterprises.<\/p>\n
Yogyakarta city`s deputy mayor Haryadi Suyuti said the exhibition held at the Atrium Malioboro Mall on Thursday was meant to show to public that Yogyakarta remained secure for visitors.<\/p>\n
The small and medium enterprises were part of the people`s economy and they were integrated into tourism sector, which was the city`s economic locomotive, he said.<\/p>\n
Mount Merapi had erupted repeatedly in the past two or three weeks but its most fatal eruptions occurred on October 26 and November 5.<\/p>\n
As a result of the eruptions, at least 259 people had perished and many others sustained burns and became displaced.<\/p>\n
The total number of refugees being sheltered in 639 refugee centers in Yogyakarta and Central Java reportedly reached 367,548 people.<\/p>\n
Mount Merapi, on the border between two provinces, lies geographically close to Yogyakarta but is officially part of Central Java.<\/p>\n
The volcano`s eruptions spewed hot clouds of ash and lava into the air and sent lava down its many slopes.<\/p>\n
Besides killing and injuring several hundred people, eruptions had also damaged 867 hectares of forested land on the volcano`s slopes in Sleman District, Yogyakarta, with material losses estimated at Rp33 billion.<\/p>\n
The damaged forested areas included the Merapi National Park, community forests and local people`s plantations.<\/p>\n
Mount Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, whose eruptions have regularly been detected since 1548.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mt-merapi-eruptions-cause-huge-economic-losses-1290306280", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }