Mount Ciremai closed to public: Kuningan Regent
Mount Ciremai closed to public: Kuningan Regent
Nana Rukmana
The Jakarta Post
Kuningan, West Java
Government authorities in Kuningan regency declared here on
Monday that the area around Mount Ciremai was closed to the
public, following the increased activity of the volcano.
Kuningan regent Arifin Setiamihardja said he made the
announcement -- that the surrounding area of Mount Ciremai was
closed -- after consulting with the state-owned forestry firm
Perhutani and the Ciremai Observation Post in the area. Perhutani
owns and oversees much of the land near Mount Ciremai.
"Based on our consultation with those institutions, we declare
that the area is closed to the public, meaning that people are
not allowed to be in the area without authorization, including
mountain climbers," Arifin said.
Maman Sukirman, an officer from the Ciremai Observation Post,
said that they had recorded several small tremors on Friday, but
their intensity increased on Sunday.
"We recorded 18 tremors on Sunday, and one of them was equal
to 2.0 on the Richter scale," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said that residents from at least seven subdistricts in the
Cilimus and Pesawahan districts could feel the largest of the
tremors.
However, Maman said that the residents, who lived below the
slopes of the mountain, should not worry about the earth shaking
too much more than that and that it was not strong enough to
damage buildings.
Separately, Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah told
reporters that the ministry was closely monitoring the
development on Mount Ciremai, and it was ready to distribute aid
immediately to people, should they need it.
He said that he had ordered social and welfare offices at the
West Java provincial administration to be ready to help local
residents if Mount Ciremai erupted.
"We are always on alert in order to react to natural
disasters, and we are ready to distribute aid," Bachtiar said in
Bandorasa Wetan subdistrict, Cilimus district.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources beefed
up its monitoring at Mount Ciremai, and deployed two additional
officers to the Ciremai Observation Post.
The monitoring of the mountain was increased after Sunday's
activity, said Iyus Rushana, who was accompanied by two other
officers at the post, Didi Suryadi and Maman Sukirman.
Mount Ciremai is 3,078 meters (just over 10,000 feet) above
sea level is the highest mountain in West Java province.
The mountain has been quiet for decades. The last eruption
occurred in 1938.