Airport on Flores reopens
Airport on Flores reopens
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post/Kupang
Waioty Airport in Maumere, Sikka Regency on Flores island, resumed operations on Friday after it was closed for four days due to Mount Egon's eruptions.
Pelita Air Service and Merpati Nusantara Airlines flew in and out on the same day, said Sikka Regent Alex Longginus.
The regent said that the airport workers had already begun to clean up the tarmac. Waioty Airport is located some 10 kilometers west of Mount Egon.
"The volcanic activity still continues, but the thick ash is being blown in a different direction now, as a result, the airport is no longer affected, and allows us to open it," said Alex.
As of Friday, the volcano was still spewing thick smoke 2,500 meters into the sky.
Mount Egon, one of 129 volcanoes nationwide, has been belching out ash for almost two weeks, forcing some 2,000 residents on the slopes of the mountain to flee to safer areas.
Meanwhile, Regent Alex expressed concern that some 2,000 refugees, who were still living in refugee camps in the regency, would suffer from famine, as rice stocks were apparently running out.
"We have filed a request to the central government in order for them to give us more rice as the warehouse has only one ton left. The stock is enough for one or two days, so we are in urgent need," said Alex.
Besides food concerns, Alex also worried about the spread of respiratory and skin diseases in the refugee camps that have begun to afflict the refugees.
He said that some refugees had already been treated at local community health centers. He appealed to the central government for more medicine and health officials.
Separately, Sikka Deputy Regent Yos Ansar Rera also complained that the refugees were in pressing need of more water and masks. "Most wells are covered in ash, so we need clean water from the government," he said.
For the time being, the refugees are using handkerchiefs or wet towels to cover their faces in order to avoid hazardous ash intake, Yos was quoted by Antara as saying.