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| Mount Gamalama spews thick ashes and gas as seen from Ternate, Indonesia, on Dec. 5. The mud and ash left from the explosion have decimated local farmers' crops, leaving many with little hope of making ends meet. (EPA Photo) |
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Muhammad
Kasim, a 35-year-old clove farmer, has had to delay his plan to go on the Hajj
pilgrimage next year because of damage to his crops on the slopes of Mount
Gamalama following an eruption earlier this month.
The clove
fields surrounding Moya subdistrict in Ternate, North Maluku, have been
blanketed in volcanic ash since the Dec. 5 eruption.
“The crops
are damaged and the harvest this year will not bring in anything significant,”
Kasim said.
He said he
had been counting on receiving Rp 70 million ($7,705) for his crops, Rp 32
million of which he would have set aside to fund his pilgrimage.
Kasim,
however, can count himself more fortunate than many of his neighbors, as he
also runs a small store close to his home that brings him Rp 2 million a month.
Kirman, a
nutmeg farmer, said he had initially planned on using the proceeds from the
harvest to build a house, but the eruption has put an end to such prospects.
The
volcanic ash has destroyed most of his mangosteen and durian crops as well.
“I don’t
know how I’ll make ends meet,” he said. “I don’t have any other source of
income.”
Thousands
of farmers in Ternate face similarly bleak prospects, but they are not the only
victims of the disaster. The lahar — mudflow of volcanic debris deposited in
rivers and streams — has destroyed more than 100 houses along riverbanks, the
municipal administration reports.
“We
estimate the cost of the damage due to the eruption at Rp 15 billion,” said
Jemmy D. Brifing, head of the local Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD).
Members of
the Ternate legislative council called on the Ternate and North Maluku
administrations, as well as the central government, to send aid to farmers and
other affected residents .
Local
councilor Asgar Saleh said that people in the area were struggling to pull
through.
“I’ve asked
Ternate officials to gather data on the affected people so any assistance we
can offer them can be included in the administration’s budget,” he said.
If funds
from the Ternate budget are insufficient, Asgar added, he will seek funds from
the provincial and central governments. He also called on large businesses in
the province to step in and aid the relief effort.
Marlison
Hakim, the central bank representative in Ternate, said there was a need for
farmers to manage their finances better.
Clove and
nutmeg farmers in the area reap tens of millions of rupiah, and sometimes
hundreds of millions, during each harvest. However, the money is quickly spent
on consumer goods, he said, adding that if a certain amount were put in a
savings account after each harvest, the farmers would have a financial safety
net.
Ternate
Mayor Burhan Abdurrahman said the city and provincial administrations were committed
to helping the victims of the eruption rebuild.
Mt.
Gamalama’s most recent eruptions were in 1980, 1992 and 2003. The largest
eruption on record took place in 1712. Debris from that eruption can today be
seen throughout Ternate.
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