Funds run dry for thousands who fled Egon eruption
Funds run dry for thousands who fled Egon eruption
Yemris Fointuna and Jacob J. Herin, The Jakarta Post,
Kupang/Maumere
The regent of Sikka acknowledged on Tuesday that regental
government funds -- allocated for the 5,600 refugees who had fled
their homes after Mount Egon erupted in Sikka regency, Flores
island, East Nusa Tenggara -- had run out.
"The funds, amounting to Rp 100 million (US$11,765), have been
spent on food, medication and other necessary items, so that we
have to seek money from other sources for the refugees.
"We are hoping that the central government or private parties
will lend a hand to help us," said Sikka Regent Aleks Longginus.
The some 5,600 refugees have been living in 13 emergency
shelters in Maumere, some 25 kilometers from Mount Egon, since
last Friday.
Mount Egon started spewing dark clouds of ash and molten lava
on Thursday last week. Thousands of residents were evacuated from
the slopes of the volcano to Maumere city, the biggest city on
Flores Island, for fear of larger volcanic eruptions.
Although volcanic activities have decreased -- with Mount Egon
spewing less ash and lava from its crater -- the local
Volcanology and Geophysical Agency has maintained the danger
status of first alert.
"Agency officials are monitoring ongoing developments. If
volcanic activity ceases, residents will be informed and may
return to their villages," he said.
Meanwhile, Sikka health office head Dr. Ignatius H. Keron,
said that the health of refugees was rapidly deteriorating.
Children and their mothers are showing signs of malnutrition,
they are susceptible to diseases such as malaria or dengue fever.
"Toddlers and pregnant women need special care. We hope that
people will help us to provide them with nutritious food," he
said.
According to him, there are 609 toddlers among the refugees,
171 babies and 230 expectant mothers.
He said it could be another week before an adequate supply of
medicine reached the refugees. The number of refugees
hospitalized in Maumere has increased to 32.
Yohanes Stef Bajo, head of the welfare office in Sikka, said
that around 354 residents from Waigete subdistrict, located on
the northern side of the mountain, had left the refugee camp and
returned home.
Those with homes on the southern side were still waiting for
the situation to improve, according to him.
Bajo also reported that burglaries had been rampant on Mount
Egon as so many homes were deserted.
He said, Army personnel had caught two suspected burglars on
Tuesday and police, one suspected burglar.
Egon last erupted in September 1925 when it belched black
smoke containing sulfur, creating a large crater 47.5 meters in
diameter.
The volcano is one of 15 volcanoes in the many islands of East
Nusa Tenggara that are categorized as either active or with the
possibility of eruptions.