New Homes Set for Sinabung’s Displaced

Jakarta Globe, SP/Robertus Wardi, January 25, 2014

A villager pours pesticide from a bucket as Mount Sinabung spews ash at
 Kebayaken village in Karo district, North Sumatra, on Dec. 4, 2013. (Reuters
Photo/Roni Bintang)

Kabanjahe. The government will relocate people who live on the slope of Mount Sinabung away from the volcano and build permanent houses for them, following recent spews of ash that has blanketed the nearby landscape in grey.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who visited residents that had to flee Sinabung’s eruptions, said residents within a three-kilometer radius of the volcano would be relocated to a new 25-hectare plot. He said that the government so far already has 15 hectares of land for the project.

“Once the land is available, I hope it will be 25 hectares. We can make permanent residences for around 900 families who live close to the mountain,” said the president in Kabanjahe, Karo district, North Sumatra on Friday.

Yudhoyono said that the government shortly will place the victims on a location about five to seven kilometers from Sinabung.

“We have sufficient land resources, but the location is far from their current residences. If we relocate them far away, it would be difficult to get them to relocate. We plan to relocate them just slightly farther from their original location,” he said.

“I have asked the BNPB [National Disaster Mitigation Agency], provincial and district administrations to provide the rest,” the president added.

Incentives

Yudhoyono also said the government will establish a budget to overcome the impacts of Sinabung’s eruptions and appointed BNPB chairman Syamsul Ma’arif to lead the mitigation process.

“The budget we will roll out is not small, that’s why it has to be right on target, well-managed and prevent whatever we don’t want from happening. Hundreds of billions [of rupiah] will be rolled out to overcome the impacts of the Mount Sinabung’s eruptions,” the president said.

Aside from providing homes in a safer location, the government will also provide scholarships at the elementary school to university levels for those students who study in Medan and outside North Sumatra.

“I have decided what to do in the short term, in one to two months. Our people who have been affected by the Sinabung eruptions should not drop out of school,” the president said, adding that the government will provide health assistance, scholarships, and will write off interest on bank loans.

There will also be incentives to the people who lost their jobs because of the eruptions.

“I have asked the BNPB chief to continue the cash for work program to be continued and expanded. Every head of the family who is now living in the makeshift tents can earn the incentive by working,” he said.

The government, in cooperation with the Financial Service Authority (OJK), has also arranged for banks to reschedule the debts of people whose farms, plantation and cattle have been affected by the eruptions.

“Those who have debts in banks, Bank BRI and Bank Sumut, will have the opportunity to apply for new loans. Those whose farms and plantations are totally destroyed will get interest written off,” the president said.

National disaster

Sinabung’s victims called on Yudhoyono to declare the volcanic eruptions, which have been going on for three months, a national disaster.

“If the president declares it a national disaster, it will bring a positive value for all of the people who have fled from the eruptions,” said Fari Beru Ginting, who fled an area affected by the eruptions.

Beru, 50, said that by declaring it a national disaster, the central government and provincial administration will be involved to help the disaster victims.

As such, it will be helpful for the people especially in repairing their houses, agricultural land and psychological condition, he said.

“Not a single person who fled the disaster in this area is hoping to benefit from this disaster. The disaster has forced us to flee our houses for three months. All of the evacuees are stressed, especially with the fact that our agricultural lands are totally destroyed by the cold lava flow and the volcanic ash,” Beru said.

Another resident living in the makeshift tents, Lisa Beru Tarigan, said that the president’s visit gave them hope.

She noted that services for those living in the tents had previously been insufficient, with surrounding areas in a generally dirty state. Residents faced difficulty in getting clean water, and the food was not as good as the time when the president arrived.

“Before the president arrived, the services here have not been satisfactory. [Just prior to his arrival] the food has been much better, and the water provided has been clean and sufficient,” she said.

“The surrounding areas have been made clean. They even sprayed the area,” Lisa added.

First Lady Ani Yudhoyono accompanied the president. She lauded the female refugees at the Great Mosque shelter in the city for their artistically crafted woven mats, chopsticks, and rice containers, which are frequently used by the Karo people.