Gas sources emerge after tsunami disaster

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Meulaboh

Usman, 51, was amazed when he smelled the pungent odor of gas as he and other workers were digging a groundwater well. The deeper they dug, the stronger the smell.

But amazement turned to surprise when a thick cloud spurted out from the earth.

"It happened few days ago. We were lucky no one was killed," said Usman.

The gas spray reached several meters high, and the sound could be heard from hundreds of meters away. This was the biggest gas eruption to have occurred in the Suak Ribee subdistrict, Meulaboh, in West Aceh.

Suak Ribee was among the subdistricts hardest hit by the tsunami disaster last year. Since then, residents and non- governmental organizations (NGOS) have been busy building houses. Usman and his friends had been digging a groundwater well for a community health center being built by the NGO Islamic Relief.

"We wanted water, but instead we got gas," Usman said smiling.

With the help of Islamic Relief and local residents, the well was closed off using concrete. However, the gas then started emerged in a nearby swamp area.

"Maybe because the gas could not come out from the well, it had to find another way to escape. It apparently pushed the soil up and then emerged in the swamp area," said Usman.

Since then, nobody has been allowed to smoke near the swamp area or even near the blocked up well for fear of causing an explosion. Usman has put up a banner in the community health center compound prohibiting people from smoking in the area.

Chief of Suak Ribee subdistrict, Syarifuddin, acknowledged that gas had been found in the subdistrict. Many more sources of gas have been found in the subdistrict since the tsunami disaster last year, the result of a monster earthquake measuring 9.3 on the Richter scale.

"After the tsunami disaster, five new sources of gas were found in the subdistrict," he said.

Gas has also been found in the neighboring subdistrict of Suak Sekandeng.

Of the thousands of families who originally lived in Suak Ribee, only 636 families remain.

Half these families have already received permanent houses from the Salvation Army NGO.