The sun will no longer shine

The sun will no longer shine

YOGYAKARTA: Members of a Javanese mystical cult on Mount
Merapi who believe the sun will soon stop shining have illegally
hoarded kerosene and salt, police said.

Members of Garuda Pancasila Mawahyu Buana in Gondoarum village
have taken the prophecy that 1998 is the "year of darkness"
literally.

They believed the "darkness" was so imminent it was necessary
to hoard 50 drums of kerosene to make light when the days of
darkened doom eventually come.

The perceived darkness would be such a natural calamity the
electricity system the government installed would not be able to
cope, Antara reported.

Their worry that mother nature was upset by human misdeeds and
would no longer be as generous prompted them to hoard a ton of
salt to mix with fertilizer for their snakefruit plants.

Last year's drought caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon
wrought havoc on their snakefruit, one of the most important cash
crops in Sleman regency.

Yogyakarta police detectives chief, Lt. Col. Erwin TPL Tobing
said here Wednesday that the authorities did not arrest anyone
because the cult members promised to sell the goods to the
public.

But he said the authorities were investigating the legality of
the cult, which they know was founded by a prominent Yogyakarta
figure they refused to name. (pan)