Airport closed due to volcanic ash

Airport closed due to volcanic ash

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post/Kupang

The Sikka regency administration has been forced to close Waioty
Airport in the town of Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, due to last
week's eruption of Mount Egon, officials said on Tuesday.

The closure was announced on Monday and all domestic flights
from Denpasar in Bali and the East Nusa Tenggara capital of
Kupang to Maumere have been halted for the time being.

Airport head Petrus Alubel said the closure was necessitated
by the increasing activity of the volcano since last week.

"Because all of the equipment and facilities of the airport
have been covered by up to one centimeter of volcanic ash, we
have decided to halt all flights," he said.

Petrus said the health of passengers could have been affected
by the ash and smoke from the volcano.

Mount Egon has been belching out ash and smoke from its crater
for more than a week now, forcing some 2,000 villagers to
evacuate their houses on the slope of the mountain.

On Tuesday, the volcano spewed smoke up to 2,500 meters high,
and ash from the explosion covered areas as far away as 30
kilometers.

The local administration warned residents last week not to
approach the volcano.

Many of the 2,000 villagers who were evacuated to safer areas
are reportedly suffering from respiratory problems and skin
irritations.

Local disaster task force officials from the Sikka
administration have opened community kitchens to provide food for
the refugees.

"For the time being, they are receiving assistance in the form
of food, tents and clean water," task force coordinator Silvanus
Tibo said.

Sikka Regent Alex Longginus said last week his administration
was having trouble distributing aid to the refugees because of
transportation problems.

He asked the central government to help renovate roads leading
to the refugee camps.

Officials and seismologists are continuing to monitor the
mountain, which is expected to remain active for an unspecified
period.

Mount Egon is among 129 volcanoes in the country, the world's
largest archipelago nation.

Indonesia is vulnerable to seismic upheavals due to its
location on a subduction zone, where the Australian continental
plate is being pushed underneath Southeast Asia, creating an arc
of volcanoes and oceanic trenches.