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.