Merapi volcano observers overworked and underpaid

By Bambang M.

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The heavy rain pouring down on Merapi volcano from dusk to midnight failed to dampen the spirits of young people who had flocked to the Babadan monitoring post at Dukun village, Muntilan.

At midnight the rain had stopped and the weather was clear. The red and yellow sizzling hot lava streamed down from the top of the 2,968-meter-high volcano. It was a spectacular scene which people at the monitoring post enjoyed throughout the rest of the night.

It is this view that people are after when Merapi, probably the world's most active volcano, is rumbling. Tourists, journalists, scientists and the public alike flock to Babadan, the closest monitoring post, to witness the fearsome natural phenomenon.

For the volcanic observers, these moments are the busiest. They closely watch every development 24 hours a day.

Among Mount Merapi's monitoring posts, Babadan in the western region, only 4,000 meters from the mountain's peak, is the busiest. During the most recent volcanic activity hot lava streamed down the western slopes to the Sat and Senowo rivers.

Babadan monitoring post is just like a highland villa. The building has five bedrooms and from the living room you can watch Merapi spewing forth its dangerous lava flow.

The living room is linked by a staircase to an observation room upstairs. A 40-square-meter bunker has been built as a precautionary measure should the post also be engulfed by boiling lava. The bunker's walls are 50 centimeters thick, while its steel entrance and exit doors are 18 centimeters thick.

"Since Jan. 10 we have slept two hours a day," said Sugiyono HS, the most senior observer at Babadan monitoring post. But sometimes they don't sleep at all if Mount Merapi's activity status is raised to "alert".

When Merapi is "normal", the post is manned by three observers. They are Sugiyono, Yulianto and Budiono. After working for three days they are allowed three days rest.

When the volcano became highly active last month they were assisted by another two observers. One of the two extra observers is assigned from the Yogyakarta-based BPPTK (Volcanology Research Agency). At critical times, such as now, the observers are not allowed to return home and must continually monitor the unpredictable activity of Mount Merapi.

"Of course all of us miss our families," said Purwono, a father of three.

Their tasks include observing Merapi's activity visually, measuring smoke pressure, recording temperature and rainfall, and interpreting the tremors.

"Then we make a report based on all of the data and send it to BPPTK in Yogyakarta," said Sugiyono, a father of six who lives in Banyubiru, 13 kilometers away from the monitoring post.

Demanding

Reports are also submitted to the regency governments around Merapi: Sleman, Magelang, Boyolali and Klaten. Due to the responsibility vested in them, a high degree of alertness is demanded.

"(If there is) a very critical situation, we communicate directly with the regents regarding the activity status," said Sugiyono who has been working at the Babadan monitoring post for more than 25 years.

Babadan monitoring post directly oversees five hamlets located on the west slope: Sengi, Pathen, Krinjing, Keningar and Ngargomulyo, which are collectively inhabited by approximately 1,500 people.

Merapi's activity level still remains very high. Mbah Maridjan, a Merapi gatekeeper who is believed to have spiritual visions, has predicted that a major eruption will occur on March 26.

Babadan monitoring post is isolated. It is also very cold at night, about 13 degrees Celsius.

"The presence of visitors will cheer us up," said Purwono. To relieve boredom Purnomo, the other observers and visitors tell jokes.

The observers said they became lonely again after authorities closed the Babatan post to the public on Feb. 1, as a result of the increasing volcanic activity. At the time hot ash was showering the nearby areas.

Before the post was closed to the public, the observers' family members were allowed to visit on Sundays.

Purwono recalled that his wife and children at first objected to his stationing at Babatan - for obvious reasons. Moreover, his wife is expecting to give birth to their third child at any time.

For Purwono, his most memorable moment at the post was watching Merapi erupt in 1984.

"Three days before the eruption I dreamt of having a party with many people in the rice field. But it was very strange because the rice field was white, covered with volcanic ash," he recalled.

Among the observers in Babadan, Sugiyono is the most senior. In 1996, he was named the nation's finest volcano observer. He won a Rp 2,5 million award from the then Minister of Mining and Energy IB. Sudjana, and was invited to participate in the National Independence Day ceremony at the state palace in Jakarta.

In 1993, Sugiyono received another award, from the then Minister of transportation Haryanto Danutirto, for managing to file weather reports to the Meteorology and Geophysics Bureau (BMG) for 10 years without interruption.

"When they asked me to go to Jakarta, I asked them to give me a plane ticket. That was the first time I traveled by plane. It was like a dream come true," Sugiyono said.

In fact volcano observers are not well-paid. As a grade 3B civil servant Sugiyono receives a monthly basic salary of Rp 400,000, while Purwono receives Rp 350.000 as a grade 3A officer.

"The government's policy to provide the 'professional allowance' of Rp 170,000 a month to employees of Grades 1 and 2 is strange because we (of higher grades) do not get it, not even when we work overtime," said Sugiyono.

To help make ends meet, Sugiyono's wife, Sri Hartati, sells food and drinks to visitors at Babadan monitoring post.