Evacuees of Mount Agung return to their homes in Banjar Benekasa, Muncan village, Selat district, Karangasem regency, Bali, Friday (6/10). Those that had evacuated to Banjar Gunung Hyang, Semarapura subdistrict, Klungkung, returned to the village after it was assured that it was not included in the KRB zone, which is predicted to be affected by the predicted Mount Agung eruption.
KLUNGKUNG, KOMPAS — Some of Mount Agung\'s evacuees in Bali have been hit by uncertainties. The extension of the duration of the state of emergency has not been properly informed to the public.
According to Kompas’ observation, most of the evacuees in a number of evacuation posts in Karangasem and Klungkung on Friday (6/10) did not know the duration of the emergency status, which had been extended until Oct. 16, 2017.
The people were asked to evacuate without any information on evacuation length. Ni Nengah Suryani, 50, an evacuee from Muncan village, Selat district, Karangasem regency, said the government should think about the future of the evacuees, because during the evacuation, he and many other residents did have any income.
"We also have to meet our diverse daily needs, in addition to logistics. I need money to buy prayer equipment to pay the debt," said Suryani at the evacuation post, GOR Swecapura, Klungkung regency.
Suryani is a fruit and vegetable farmer in Muncan village. She lives in an area within the 9-kilometer radius zone from the summit of Mount Agung. For two weeks he has not worked and lived in an evacuation camp.
Refugees\' knowledge on Mount Agung\'s current condition is also limited. Map images of eruption-prone areas are also not available at a number of evacuation posts.
The consequence is fatal. Most refugees do not know the location of houses or evacuation posts that are located in danger zones. This uncertain condition can trigger a lot false news about the eruption of Mount Agung. "I have not heard about an extension. I do not dare return home if it is not allowed by the government," said Raka Putu, 43, a refugee from Bebandem in Padang Bai, Karangasem.
However, some refugees have chosen to stay in the evacuation post despite the uncertainty. One of them is I Nengah Rejo, 70, another resident of Bebandem village, in the Ulakan evacuation post. He felt safe living in the evacuation camps rather than in villages. With many guards and the availability of logistics, staying in the evacuation posts is considered more secure.
According to data provided by the Task Force on Disaster Emergency Response of the Mount Agung eruption, until Friday at 12:00 eastern Indonesia time, the number of evacuees had dropped from 146,797 people to 139,203 people. Most of the refugees – 44,574 people – are in Karangasem.
Cattle shelters
Karangasem Regent I Gusti Ayu Mas Sumatri said that he was working on a long-term economic empowerment plan for the people. The empowerment can be made through the provision of training and capital from cooperatives. This program also needs funding from the central and provincial governments.
In addition, to ensure a sense of calmness and security in the restricted zones, the livestock owned by the refugees will also be transferred to livestock shelters. Until Friday, only about 5,600 cows were transferred to the shelters from about 20,000 cows in the restricted zone.
"The transfer of the livestock to the shelters was needed so that the owners will not enter the restricted zone on the ground they need to look for grass for the animal," said the task force coordinator for the husbandry and animal health department of the Bali Husbandry and Animal Health Office, I Ketut Nata Kusuma.
Nata Kusuma said he was preparing 41 livestock shelters. The shelters will be located in Denpasar and six other districts in Bali. Cow feed will also be provided at the shelters. "A number of residents still refused to move their livestock. The reason was the difficulty in finding grass and fear of injury when transferred," said Nata Kusuma.
Not affected yet
Meanwhile, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita, while visiting Bali, said the rise in the safety status of Mount Agung to the highest alert level had yet to affect the Balinese economy. However, he will continue to monitor its development. He assured that the central government would continue to help provide for all the needs of the people of Bali.
"Bali is still safe. The concerns of foreign tourists are not due to the threat of natural disasters. They fear that if the airport is closed, they cannot return to their home country," he said.
The head of the Volcanic Mitigation Division at the Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, Gede Suantika, said the alert status of Mount Agung had not changed. The number of earthquakes is still above 700 occurrences per day. White smoke, signaling the high temperature of magma, is still coming out from the mountain.
"The trend of the earthquakes in the last two days has increased even though it has not exceeded the number of earthquakes taking place when the alert status of the mountain was raised to the highest level from standby," he said.
Based on the data, Suantika said that volcanic activity of Mount Agung was still high. The chances of the eruption remain higher than the probability of it not erupting. However, that potential may change, depending on the results of subsequent monitoring.
"Therefore, areas within a radius of 9 kilometers and a radius of 12 kilometers to the north, northeast, southeast, south, and southwest from the mountain peak are still not restricted," he said.
