Gamalama volcano erupts

Gamalama volcano erupts

TERNATE, North Maluku: Mount Gamalama, an active volcano in North Maluku, erupted on Thursday, blanketing the provincial capital of Ternate with thick ash, officials said.

There were no reports of casualties or damage following the eruption of the 720-meter (2,360-foot)-high volcano, said vulcanologist Ahmad Jumarman.

Residents had not been advised to leave their homes, he said. Dust and ash fell in Ternate, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the mountain, he said.

Gamalama, which last erupted in 2000, is one of 500 volcanoes in Indonesia. Of these, 128 are active and 65 are listed as dangerous.

Indonesia's volcanoes are part of the "Ring of Fire" -- a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia. --AP

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No money to build Kuala Namu airport: Agum

MEDAN, North Sumatra: It will take longer to build a new airport in North Sumatra province as the government cannot finance the planned project, the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Agum Gumelar, said here on Thursday.

"The government wants to build the airport in Kuala Namu quickly but we are facing difficulties in finding investors," he told The Jakarta Post.

The Kuala Namu airport in Deli Serdang regency is expected to replace Polonia Airport in the province's capital of Medan which local officials say can no longer operate as an international airport.

Members of the North Sumatra legislature said that simply lacking money was no reason for the central government to delay the construction of the airport.

They argued that the profit of more than Rp 122 billion generated annually by state-owned PT Angkasa Pura II (which operates Polonia Airport) were enough to develop the Kuala Namu airport.

But Agum was not impressed by the argument. "The profits are not the issue, we should have capital for the project," he said.--JP