Malang regency on Semeru eruption alert

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 03/08/2009 12:49 PM

The disaster alleviation team for Malang announced on Sunday that the regency was on full alert after Mount Semeru's eruption alert level was elevated to the highest.

The team's chairman Rendra Kresna told tempointeraktif.com that six regions, namely Ampelgading, Tirtoyudo, Dampit, Wajak, Poncokusumo and Tumpang, were at risk.

"Those areas are at risk of harmful showers of ash and other vulcanic material including hot gas," Kresna said.

The volcanic mudflows are predicted to flow through the lava channels running under the Pronojiwo region in Lumajang, he added.

All residents have been notified of impending volcanic activities. (amr)

Bojonegoro levee collapses, residents flee home

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 02/28/2009 9:31 AM

A 10-meter long part of a levee in Kanor district in Bojonegoro, East Java collapsed a around 6 o'clock on Saturday morning, causing residents near the incident to flee their home.

Pudjiono, Bojonegoro regency's head of disaster management and refugee command, told Antara that the collapsed part was located at Semambung villlage.

“We have yet to receive reports how many residents have taken refuge,” he said.

Local authorities have worried that more parts of the levee in Kanor district will collapse with waters from the overflowing Bengawan Solo river yet to recede.

Pudjiono said that the administration has prepared village halls, district offices, warehouses and school compounds as shelters for the district refugees, which was predicted to be more than 11,000 families.

The Bengawan Solo river has inundated 10,636 homes across 12 districts in Bojonegoro, forcing thousands of residents to move to temporary camps, and submerging large areas of farm land.

The river water level was recorded raising at 7 a.m. on Saturday. (dre)

Wild elephants destroy hundreds of hectares of people`s plantation

Tapaktuan (ANTARA News) - Three of wild elephants were reported to have trampled down hundreds of hectares of plantation area belonging to the residents of Kapa Sesak and Naca villages in Trumon sub-district, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD).

"Since the last one week, the wild giant animals have destroyed hundreds of hectares of residential plantation in some villages," head of the Trumon sub-district administration H Lahmudin said here on Sunday.

According to him, a band of wild elephants destroyed hundreds of hectares of crops, paddy, palm tree and patchouli farming areas.

He hoped that such troubles caused by wild elephants could be addressed by encumbent power elite as a wayout to stop further material losses inflicting local residents.

Such conflict between the elephants and human beings at the foot of Mount Leuser subsided after the wild elephants` trouble shooter team from the Natural Resources Conservation Agency in early January this year went to the location.

Kapa Sesak Village Head Alfandi and Pinto Rimba village Head Zakaria said a band of protected wild elephants attacked the plantation area in the afternoon till the evening.

"Much material losses suffered by the local residents and we hope a wild elephants` trouble shooter team could immediately go to the field to overcome the menace," Alfandi said.

Gorontalo floods force thousands of people to evacuate

Gorontalo (ANTARA News) - Floods, triggered by days of torrential rains, inundated or heavily damaged thousands of houses at ten sub-districts in the city of Gorontalo and forcing thousands of people to evacuate on Tuesday.

Official at flood mitigation post command said that as of Tuesday morning, around 2,015 people had been evacuated to a number of safer locations.

The official said that starting from 2 a.m. on Tuesday, flood waters had swept through ten sub-districts, namely Heledulaa Selatan, Moodu, Heledulaa Utara, Bugis, Ipilo, Tenda, Padebuolo, Biawu, Dembe II, and Tenilo.

He added that the local government had distributed 100 boxes of instant noodle and three tons of rice to the displaced people at the refugee shelters.

Rescue workers, assisted by police and military officials as well as volunteers, joined together to evacuate the flood victims from their homes to at least 10 temporary shelters across Gorontalo city.

Mimi, one of the refugees, said she was reluctant to evacuate but the flood waters in her house rose slowly and on Monday night and on Tuesday morning it went up to about 50 centimeters high and forced her to flee to safer area.

As black clouds remained drifting lazily overhead on Tuesday, local Meteorology and Geophysics Agency reported that heavy rain would continue to occur throughout Gorontalo in the next two days.

Water supplies in Bedugul catchment area under threat

Wasti Atmodjo, The Jakarta Post, Bedugul, Bali

Climate change, land conversion, deforestation and the unchecked use of ground water are threatening water levels in the Bedugal catchment area, an expert warned recently.

"The local administration must act immediately to protect this precious area.

Conservation, reforestation and firm controls on development are needed very soon," Sandi Adnyana, a soil expert at Udayana University's Center for Environmental Research (PPLH), said last week.

Bedugul is located 60 kilometers north of Denpasar in a hilly, cool area dotted with trees. The area is home to three of the island's four lakes -- Beratan, Buyan and Tamblingan.

These lakes are the primary source of water for human consumption and farm irrigation in the Buleleng, Tabanan and Badung regencies, as well as in Denpasar. Bedugul's beautiful scenery and climate have also made it one of the island's most popular tourist destinations, particularly among domestic visitors. Many of the island's wealthier inhabitants have purchased land there to construct villas and hotels.

"We know that for several years water levels at Buyan Lake have steadily been decreasing. At one point the water level reached two meters," a senior official at the island's Environmental Impacts Management Agency (Bapedalda), AA Sastrawan, said last week. Sastrawan said climate change was one of the primary causes of declining water levels in the area as during the last few years, annual rainfall had been less than average.

Research conducted by PPLH last year concluded there were several reasons for declining water supplies in the area. "Our results suggest climate change, land conversion and the unchecked use of water have played a big role in the decline of water supplies," Sandi said.

PPLH researchers compared data from several time periods to get a clearer picture of the effects of land conversion in the area. "Satellite images and aerial photos show that the size of coffee plantations and primary forests around the two lakes have decreased compared to their size in 1981," Sandi said. "There has been a 87.90 percent decrease in the size of coffee plantations." Sandi said coffee plants, which were the primary crop in the area, had the ability to improve the structure and strength of soil. Coffee plants store water in the rainy season and release it into springs and ground water sources during the dry season, he added. The decreasing size of coffee plantations in the area surrounding Buyan and Tamblingan means that the lakes have lost one of their primary supporting systems.

The images studied by PPLH researches also indicated that man-made structures were increasingly being built, as were farms. "The decrease in water levels is also caused by the unchecked use of ground water by villagers living in close proximity to the lakes," Sandi said.

In Wanagiri village, residents pump water out of the lake for 10 hours straight on any given day. On average they use 72 cubic meters of water each day. Water pumped out of the lake is used for the daily needs of residents as well as meeting the water requirements of several restaurants in the area.

The situation at Tamblingan Lake is much the same. Residents from Gobleg and Pedawa villages pump water from the lake in large quantities to meet their irrigation needs. The combined water consumption of 500 households in the villages was estimated to be as high as 1,250 cubic meters per day. Sandi said there were at least 46 man-made wells surrounding Buyan Lake.

"Another probable cause of these low water levels is that water in the lakes is being drawn out through underground channels, which cause water springs to form in other areas," he said.

He said conservation efforts around the lakes should include large-scale reforestation projects.

"Stop illegal logging, minimize land conversion, reduce the speed of housing development in the area and if possible start cultivating coffee again," he said.

Strong earthquake rocks eastern Indonesia

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (AP): A deep 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook eastern Indonesia on Saturday, sending residents running out of their homes, the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency and witnesses said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries and no tsunami alert was issued, said Suharjono, an agency spokesman.

The tremor struck at a depth of about 100 kilometers in Maluku province, about 2,700 kilometers east of the capital, Jakarta.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake at a magnitude 6.3.

Another nearby quake with magnitudes of 6.2 was felt several hundred kilometers (miles) away in East Timor, a witness said.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago with 17,500 islands, is prone to seismic upheavals because of its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

A giant quake off Indonesia's Sumatra island in 2005 spawned the Asian tsunami and killed more than 230,000 people in 11 countries, more than half of them in Indonesia.

WB launches financing for forest-saving scheme

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

The World Bank launched Tuesday a US$160 million financing scheme to provide incentives to developing countries that protect their forests.

Called the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), the scheme aims to reduce deforestation and forest degradation by compensating developing countries for carbon dioxide reductions realized by maintaining their forests.

"The focus will be on indigenous people dependent on forests," said World Bank President Robert Zoellick.

The money is provided by nine wealthy countries. Germany has committed US$59 million, the United Kingdom US$30 million, the Netherlands US$22 million, Australia and Japan US$10 million each, France and Switzerland US$7 million each, Denmark and Finland US$5 million each.

In addition, the U.S.-based The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has committed US$5 million to the scheme.

The World Bank and some of the international ministers present highlighted the importance of consultation with indigenous people before a projects starts.

"We must ensure protection of the rights of the indigenous people," said Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany's federal minister for economic cooperation and development.

"Under the terms of the facility, governments will ensure that indigenous people dependent on forests, as well as other forest dwellers, will be meaningfully consulted during the drafting of their country's Readiness Plan and REDD Strategy, and benefit from capacity building," Zoellick said.

Thirty countries from Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region have requested an opportunity to participate, Zoellick said.

The FCPF will have two mechanisms. First is the "readiness mechanism" that will assist approximately 20 countries in preparing themselves to participate in a future, large-scale, system of positive incentives for REDD (reduce emissions from avoided Deforestation and forest degradation), a scheme proposed by 11 countries with large tracts of forest, including Indonesia.

The second is the "carbon finance mechanism", which will enable an initial group of these countries that will have successfully participated in the Readiness Mechanism to pilot incentive payments for REDD.

Dozens of activists from environmental groups like Friends of the Earth, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment and Global Forest Coalition, staged a protest outside the conference room where the launch took place.

They said the inclusion of forests in the carbon market would not help improve the climate and instead would only deprive forest dwellers of their rights.

"Carbon finance mechanisms in developing countries result in forests being transferred or sold to large corporations which hope to acquire profitable 'carbon credits' associated with those forests at some point in the future," World Rainforest Movement spokesperson Ana Filipini said.

The activists also said that past projects involving indigenous people in the forest carbon market had been guided by unfair contracts.

"Forest people in Uganda who got a reforestation project, for example, they were under the impression that it was a charity; they didn't ask for details in the contract," said Juta Kill from the European Union Forest Campaign.

She said the contract was so unfair that the indigenous people ended up buried in debt to replace several dead trees.

Quake, tsunami drill held in Bengkulu

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA: Thousands of people participated on Monday in an earth-quake and tsunami emergency drill organized by the Bengkulu provincial authorities in an effort to help the public anticipate the severe impacts of the natural disaster.

The drill participants -- mostly women and children -- on instruction fled their homes and rushed to safer places after an alarm was sounded about an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale and having the potential of triggering a tsunami at 9:30 a.m.

Governor Agusrin Maryono Najamuddin and Bengkulu City Mayor Ahmad Kanedi came to the city's main command post as soon as they learned from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) that the earthquake had the potential of triggering a tsunami.

"I hope all of you will remain calm because you are now at a location which is 13 meters above sea level," the governor told the evacuees during the simulated program.

Satellite city gets greener

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

In line with a nationwide tree-planting drive being carried out this month, hundreds of residents from the Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) satellite city in Serpong, Tangerang, joined forces Saturday to make their area greener.

The national campaign is focused on encouraging women throughout the country to plant and maintain 10 million trees.

BSD director Liam Ning said Saturday's tree-planting drive in the area was organized to raise awareness among local residents regarding the impact of global warming.

"In order for the new trees to be able to properly grow and develop, we will hire special workers to monitor them," she said.

BSD corporate general communications manager Dhony Rahajoe said a total of 560,000 trees had been planted in the satellite city as part of its green development program.

"Planting trees gives life to nature, which in turn helps prevent natural disasters," he said.

The nationwide tree-planting campaign was officially launched by First Lady Kristiani Herawaty to coincide with the UN-administered international conference on climate change currently being held in Bali.

Flash floods hit thousands of houses in North Aceh

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - Flash floods have inundated thousands of houses in 19 sub districts in North Aceh District, Aceh Province, since Friday, following incessant rains over the past few days.

The flood waters in a number of residential areas in North Aceh reached heights of up to one meter, Bukhari, an official of the Aceh provincial social affairs office, said here on Saturday.

The worst affected areas were Matangkuli and Langkahan where a number of residents were forced to evacuate themselves to safer places reas and schools were closed, he said.

Three bridges in Bukit Linteung, Langkahan sub district, were destroyed by the floods, and tens of inhabitants of Pateng Siribee were forced to flee their homes in boats.

Several villages in Aceh`s eastern coastal areas were also flooded such as Bireuen District, Lhokseumawe, East Aceh and Kuala Simpang.

Floods have affected East Aceh since last Wednesday (Dec. 5) evening.

Flood waters up to one meter high submerged houses in Pantee Bidari, Simpang Jernih, Ranto Peureulak, Julok, Nurussalam, Idi Tunmong, Banda Alam, Darul Aman, Peudawa, Peureulak Barat, Peureulak Timur and Sungai Raya.

However, there were no immediate reports of casualties in the floods.

Dutch minister visits Kalimantan to discuss deforestration, peatland and forest fires

Palangka Raya (ANTARA News) - Dutch Development Cooperation Minister Bert Koenders and his entourage arrived in Central Kalimantan`s provincial capital of Palangka Raya on Saturday to discuss matters related to deforestation, peat land and forest fires in the province with Governor Teras Narang.

"Kalimantan has serious problems related with deforestation, peat lands and forest fires, and thus we have offered our cooperation assistance to deal with them," Koenders said after being given a traditional welcome here.

Accompanied by a 16-member delegation, Koenders said he would continue to monitor developments in the solution of the forestry problem in Central Kalimantan.

The Dutch minister was visiting Central Kalimantan on his way to Bali to attend the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference.

Forest and peat lands in Kalimantan, according to Koenders, were not only important for Indonesia but also for the rest of the world, and therefore they had to be managed well.

He said the Dutch government had extended financial assistance of around 2 million euro for a master plan to manage one-million hectares of peat land to prevent floods and forest fires.

In addition, he said, the Netherlands had also provided several non-governmental organizations from the two countries with 5 million euro to cooperate in empowering Central Kalimantan people living around forests.

"The master plan is important for natural preservation and biodiversity. Therefore, we want to ensure that the people in Central Kalimantan will lead a better life and benefit from forests," Koenders said.

Meanwhile, Governor Teras Narang said the assistance from the Dutch government for the peat land rehabilitation project would end in the middle of next year.

Jungle school pushes danger message on mercury

Duncan Graham, Contributor The Jakarta Post, Palangkaraya, C. Kalimantan

Anyone wanting to learn about the environmental issues and impacts of mercury could refer to students at Bina Cita Utama (BCU) in Palangkaraya regency, Central Kalimantan.

And this is not just because staff at the province's first and only National Plus school have set assignments to research the damaging effects of the heavy metal; there's a pragmatic side also, for the school is in a province where mercury is a real threat, and factual information is sparse.

Alluvial miners, working in the Bornean mountains that feed the broad rivers in the area, still use mercury in large quantities to separate the gold from the sand by forming an amalgam. The used mercury is then dumped in the water.

So far, analysis of water from the nearby Rungan River has not given cause for real alarm, though swimming in the water and eating the carnivorous fish species that ingest and store the poison isn't recommended. But that is not the situation with other waterways.

The Rungan is relatively short; but bigger rivers nearby, like the Katingan and Kahayan, have high levels of mercury. The waters rise in the distant Muller and Schwaner Ranges, where gold is sought by hundreds of miners and their families, mainly from Java. A reported 240-square-kilometer expanse of native jungle has already been plundered.

Yadi Mihel, 40, lives on the Rungan riverbank near BCU with his three children.

"We know there is mercury in the river, but we don't know the percentage," he said.one has been here from the government to tell us. All I know is what I've read at the school, where I've seen warnings saying it can affect the brain and the skin."

The school walls are cluttered with posters produced by the students giving chapter and verse on the dangers of mercury. And as locals are free to come and go, the students' message about the hazards is becoming widely known.

Using resources provided by the Global Mercury Project, funded by the World Health Organization and relevant United Nations agencies, the students have learned that mercury used in mining is a problem with no easy solution.

The miners are poor and although they eventually get sick, they have no other work -- without the gold, they'd starve. At best, they make only Rp 100,000 (US$11) a day. If the use of mercury were made illegal, the processing would continue out of sight of government officials.

The BCU students agreed that the only practical solution appeared to be the creation of other work that paid better than panning for the precious metal. But what "other" work? Tourism is seen as one possible answer, but Central Kalimantan does not have an international airport.

The more the students looked at the issues, the more complex they became.

Bina Cita Utama -- which means nurturing noble ideals -- is an unusual school. It is based in a Subud community called Rungan Sari, about 35 kilometers northwest of provincial capital Palangkaraya. Kalteng, short for Kalimantan Tengah, is the local name for the province.

Subud was started in the 1920s by a Javanese Muslim seer, Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo, and claims to be an awakening of the inner self; a spiritual movement and not a religion. People of all religions and no religions are said to be followers of the movement.

The name Subud has been distilled from the Sanskrit words susila (morality), budhi (reason) and dharma (duty). Subud followers define the name as "the possibility for human beings to follow the right way of living".

In most cities, supporters live in their own homes and get together at a center; but in Kalteng, they have built a well-resourced community on leased land in a jungle clearing.

Many homes are palatial, reflecting the affluence of those Subud followers who are professionals and businesspeople from overseas. Two houses have been converted into classrooms. Not surprisingly, the school has plenty of teaching and playing space, and good facilities.

BCU, which is associated with the U.S.-based education charity Susila Dharma International, started in July 2005 as a bilingual, multicultural school with 28 children from ages 5 to 16. Its student body has now expanded to almost 40 -- and most are Dayak, the indigenous inhabitants of Kalimantan. Dayak students live outside the Subud community and are bussed to the school. The plan is to increase enrollments to 200.

The school has only six students of foreign backgrounds -- five Australians and one Portuguese -- who live in the Subud community.

The National Plus concept was introduced to Indonesia in the late 1990s, and bridges the gap between national and international schools. Expatriate children are allowed to study at National Plus schools, where the teaching medium is often English and the students follow an international curriculum.

BCU is a fee-paying school that offers scholarships to Indonesian nationals and is open to the public. It is run by a nonprofit foundation and has two principals: Dr. Gunarjo S. Budi, a physics lecturer at Palangkaraya University who teaches mathematics and science at BCU, and Australian educator Karsten MacDonald, who carries the title "principal counterpart".

MacDonald said the local education system in Kalimantan was based on rote learning, with classes of up to 60 students. Primary school teaching hours lasted from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., and teachers were frequently absent. Corporal punishment was not unusual.

"A newspaper reported that 53 percent of students in Kalteng failed the national exams," he said. "The local government knew the system was failing, but weren't sure how to proceed."

MacDonald said Kalteng officials responded positively to the establishment of BCU.

"When they heard about the community here planning a National Plus school, they were highly supportive. They now believe that a school like BCU could become a model for others in the province," he said.

"We provide a learning environment which is non-threatening and high quality. At the same time, we maintain the integrity of the indigenous culture. All children learn the Indonesian language and culture, so they will not lose their cultural identity."

Floods engulf three villages in Pamekasan

Pamekasan, Madura (ANTARA News) - Floods hit and inundated three villages, namely Galadek Anyar, Karteker and Kolpajung, in Pamekasan regency, Madura, East Java, on Friday night (Dec 7).

In many places the flood waters are chest deep, and even reached the roof of many homes at Jalan Amin Jakfar.

The first time hitting the three villages, the floods came suddenly and unexpectedly after a river embankment caved in Galadek Anyar village, reaching and inundating nearby homes.

"At least 50 homes were flooded," said Fauziyah (38), a resident at Jalan Amin Jakfar, Galadek Anyar village.

Many residents were crying in panic when seeing their homes almost disappearing from their sight engulfed by raging flood waters.

Residents were trying hard to block the flood waters, by anything they could lay their hands on, including wooden planks, mud and clay, but to no avail.

According to Fauziyah, on Friday night many residents took shelter at the local village office, but many stayed near their flooded homes watching out for looters.

Cash-strapped Kelud refugees start selling livestock

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Kediri

Refugees in shelters say they have been forced to sell their livestock after being made to evacuate their homes around Mount Kelud.

The government has not allowed the refugees to return home nor to work in the fields near the erupting volcano.

Marsini, 49, a resident of Kali Kuning village, Nglegok district in Blitar, said her family had already run out of food supplies.

She said she needed to buy groceries but had no money after being unable to work for more than two weeks at the Tjandi Sewu plantation near her home.

When The Jakarta Post visited Marsini at her refugee shelter, she had just enough coffee to make two glasses.

"This is the last of the coffee, so don't throw it away if you don't finish it. My husband can drink it later," Marsini told the Post.

Marsini and her family work as seasonal laborers, each earning a daily wage of Rp 8,000 (88 U.S. cents). They have lived for dozens of years in Kali Kuning, an isolated village eight kilometers from Mt. Kelud.

Inhabited by only 26 families, the village is not connected to the power grid but instead gets electricity from a generator. To conserve fuel the generator is operated only during the day.

The Blitar regency administration does not provide piped water to the village, so residents rely instead on wells, which dry up during times of droughts and volcanic activity on Mt. Kelud.

In the past, villagers refused to be evacuated because they didn't think Mt. Kelud's eruption would be life threatening.

However, this time around authorities have forced them to evacuate, going door to door and shutting down the plantations. The villagers eventually left for the refugee shelters after the government promised to see to their needs.

However, most of the promises have not been met, the refugees say.

"Most of those with babies have complained of not receiving infant food or formula milk. There is no coffee or other necessities aside from food for the adults. We want to return home, but if we tried, the authorities would return to force us away again," said Marsini.

To avoid the authorities, a number of villagers fled to the forests near Mt. Kelud.

"The government has good intentions in thinking of our safety, but please respect our choices to survive. Will the government provide us with proper jobs if we don't work?" Marsini said.

Marsini said she had sold one of her three goats to meet her family's living needs, and that she was afraid the others would be stolen while she and her family were away from home.

"Dozens of other residents have also sold their livestock because they need the money to live. We do not fear Mt. Kelud's eruption; we're afraid that if we stay in shelters we won't be able to provide for ourselves."

Volcano observers prevent huge losses

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

At the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency (PVMBG) in Bandung, activities increase when a volcano eruption is imminent, with the agency's 54 field officers prepared to be deployed at a moment's notice.

They must be ready to leave their families back home, live like refugees, and maintain their physical condition in order to be fit while carrying out their duties. After all, their office is the treacherous terrain of a mountain.

Those working at agency headquarters need to be ready to work overtime to receive and process reports from the field.

As many as 12 officers from PVMBG were recently sent to Mount Kelud when it entered a critical phase on Oct. 16. They brought along an assortment of equipment, including powerful computers, thermal cameras to measure the crater's temperature from afar, and gas detectors to determine the presence of poisonous gas.

These tools enabled the officers to compute and analyze the collected data on-site, improving their ability to provide the public with early warnings.

"We must quickly edit data and respond to signs to make decisions. It would take longer if data had to first be processed at our headquarters in Bandung," PVMBG head Surono told The Jakarta Post in Bandung last week.

Despite its arsenal of modern technology, the agency still uses the "old" Single Side Band (SSB) high-frequency radio to communicate with 136 volcano observation officers posted at active volcanoes across the country. The radio system has served the agency for dozens of years.

The SSB band is open from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Officers communicate through fax or phone the rest of the day. Fax is used to send quake graphics and reports of volcanic activity.

Observing volcanoes makes for fulfilling work, says Aidil, who joined the agency in 1975.

"They (volcanoes) are like humans, with different traits and activities, so we must really understand their characters by studying their history of eruptions and physical nature," said Aidil.

In addition to observing volcanoes during eruptions, PVMBG volcanologists also conduct field studies during times of calm.

"If we don't know their normal activities, how can we be aware of increased activities? We must collect data on their daily activity," said PVMBG staffer Estu Kriswati, a graduate of the Geological School at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

Not all fieldwork is pleasant, Aidil said, recalling his visit to Mount Becago in northern Aceh in February.

"We had to walk for five days and nights to the nearest village of Lampahan. I'd never walked that far in my entire life," he said.

During a time when many volcanoes are showing signs of increased activity, officers often work longer hours.

"We work in shifts so that observations can be conducted throughout the day," said Estu.

The PVMBG agency was founded by the Dutch East Indies administration in 1919 following the Mt. Kelud eruption that killed more than 5,000 people. The huge losses prompted the Dutch administration to form observation teams capable of warning local residents of an imminent eruption.

Indonesia volcano eruption imminent despite false alarm: scientist

Bliotar, Indonesia (ANTARA News) - A day after a false alarm on Indonesia's Mount Kelut led to panic among residents on its slopes, the volcano is showing signs of an imminent eruption, a scientist said Sunday.

"An eruption is now very, very much possible, although so far it has not yet happened," said Agus Budianto, a geologist monitoring the activities of the volcano in the densely populated East Java province.

On Saturday, continuous tremors beneath the volcano became so strong that they could no longer be read on seismological instruments, leading scientists to evacuate their posts and warn an eruption appeared to have occurred.

They could not confirm it visually as the top of the historically deadly mountain was shrouded by clouds but their warning led residents still in the danger zone to flee in fear for their lives.

Budianto said: "There was no lava or ash emitted by the volcano." But the volcano's behaviour on Sunday indicated an eruption was still imminent, he added.

"Besides the rising earthquakes and tremors, we are also witnessing a new phenomenon -- smoke rising from the crater lake and the temperature of the water continuously rising," he told AFP.

A 15-metre (yard) deep lake fills the volcano's crater.

"All these developments show that the volcano has reached some sort of point of no return," he added.

Tens of thousands of people have already been evacuated from the fertile slopes of Mount Kelut, just 90 kilometres (56 miles) from Indonesia's second city of Surabaya, but some residents have refused to leave their homes.

The peak was put on red alert on October 16 but activity then dropped off until Friday when the tremors dramatically escalated.

About 130,000 people live within a 10-kilometre (six-mile) danger zone around the volcano, according to the health ministry, but local officials have said they were focusing on evacuating about 60,000.

Experts expect an eruption of Kelut to consist of "heat clouds" or pyroclastic flows of searing gas and volcanic debris rushing down the slopes, similar to the last eruption in 1990 that left 34 people dead.

Since record-keeping began, Mount Kelut's eruptions have claimed more than 15,000 lives, including an estimated 10,000 in a catastrophic 1586 eruption. A 1919 eruption spewed heat clouds that killed 5,160 people.

Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," where several continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

Kelud eruption could be massive

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Kediri

Cooled lava from a 1990 eruption has blocked magma at Mount Kelud in East Java, which authorities warn could cause a larger eruption this time around.

Head of observation at the Bandung-based Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center, Mohammad Hendrasto, said Tuesday it was this threat of a larger eruption that prompted the authorities to leave the volcano on top alert.

He said an increase in the temperature of Kelud's crater lake also contributed to the decision not to lower the volcano's alert status.

He said the volcano, which has been on top alert status since Oct. 16, has continued to experience two to three volcanic quakes a day.

"These indicators have shown there is still a lot of activity at Kelud. The threat of eruption is still imminent, although we can't be sure when the explosion will take place," he said at a press conference.

On Tuesday afternoon, the temperature of the crater lake was 35.6 degrees Celsius on the surface, 38.2 degrees Celsius at a depth of 10 meters and 39.5 degrees Celsius at a depth of 15 meters.

He said authorities believed the volcano erupted on Oct. 16, when 510 volcanic quakes occurred in a single day.

During the 1990 eruption, the volcano recorded 327 quakes.

From Oct. 16 to Tuesday, the magma has reached a depth of 700 meters, he said.

"After further observation over the past four days, we found cooled that has blocked the magma's passage out.

"We don't precisely know how thick the cooled lava is, but when the volcano does erupt it will send out more solid materials than in previous eruptions," Hendrasto said.

A member of the disaster center's team monitoring Kelud estimated the cooled lava was more than 4.3 kilometers thick and that if the volcano erupted, it might spew out solid materials for up to three hours.

"If this scenario happens, this year's explosion will be much worse than previous eruptions on record. It might even be bigger in terms of other volcano eruptions in the country," he said.

The cooled lava could be expelled as large stones that could be thrown very long distances, considering the amount of pressure built up inside the volcano.

He recommended residents living within a 10-km radius of the crater remain in shelters.

He warned that the longer the magma was blocked inside the volcano, the more carbon dioxide would accumulate. The gas has started coming out from cracks near the crater, but authorities do not have the equipment to measure the levels of the gas.

Many residents, however, have ignored the warnings and returned to their homes.

Returning residents say they have survived past eruptions and are not worried about Kelud's current rumblings.

"The residents no longer believe the government. I'm tired trying to persuade them to evacuate.

"I have distributed disclaimers to ensure the residents will not sue if they're injured in the eruption," Sugihwaras village head Susiadi told The Jakarta Post.

Disclaimers have been distributed to 790 families in Ngancar district in Kediri regency.

"I don't want to be blamed by people if there is an eruption," he said.

Three volcanoes simmering in Indonesia

Blitar, Indonesia (ANTARA) - Scientists in Indonesia closely monitored three simmering volcanoes across the disaster-prone nation Friday, including the offspring of infamous Krakatau off Sumatra island.

Ash has been spewing some 200 metres (yards) into the air since Tuesday at Anak Krakatau, or Child of Krakatau, the volcano left behind after Krakatau blew in 1883 and killed some 36,000 people, scientist Agus Budianto told AFP.

"We will issue a recommendation for visitors not to come close to Anak Krakatau, (to maintain) at least a three-kilometre (two-mile) distance," said Budianto, Indonesia's Volcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation Centre.

Anak Krakatau forms part of a popular international tourist destination about 40 kilometres off Sumatra island. Visitors typically tour the waters around the volcano by boat.

Budianto said scientists were considering raising the alert status of the volcano a rung up on its four-tier system, but said the disaster potential of the volcano, being far offshore, was low.

Meanwhile, Mount Soputan on Sulawesi island spewed more smoke and lava, a day after the volcano, one of Sulawesi's most active, shot clouds of smoke 1,500 metres (one mile) into the air and lava down its slopes.

Scientist Jemmi Runtuwene, speaking from the volcano's monitoring post about 25 kilometres from its crater, said on Friday that the smoke column only reached 100 to 600 metres and that tremors were calmer compared to Thursday.

Residents living in the sparsely-populated surrounding areas have not been evacuated.

On Indonesia's main island of Java, Mount Kelud remained on red alert, meaning an eruption is feared at any time.

An advisory that the volcano could blow was issued on October 16 and sparked efforts to evacuate some 130,000 people living within 10 kilometres of its water-filled crater.

"The temperature of the crater lake is still recording a slight increase," said Sulis, a scientist at Kelut's monitoring post.

The rise indicates sustained volcanic activity and the risk of an eruption.

More shallow and deep tremors caused by magma activity have also been recorded, he said.

Disaster management officials have had difficulties convincing locals that they face imminent danger, though many shelters are filling up at night.

An AFP correspondent in Blitar, one of the two districts straddling the volcano, said most evacuation shelters he visited on Friday were empty.

Kelud most recently erupted in 1990, sending searing gasses and volcanic debris rushing down its slopes that killed 34 people.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. The archipelago nation is home to 129 active volcanoes, including 21 on Java.

President visits Mount Kelud refugees

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post): President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono visited Wednesday evacuees from East Java's Mount Kelud danger zone in their current shelters.

The President met refugees in shelters in Segaran village, Wates district, and Siman village, Kepung district, Metro TV reported.

He was scheduled to spend one night in an emergency tent at the Siman refugee shelter with evacuees.

On Thursday, after presenting aid to the refugees, the President and his entourage would leave for Surabaya to get the latest update about the Lapindo mudflow disaster.

Backyard garden helps family survive

Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

When earnings are scarce, a small plot of land can become a life-saver for a modest family.

Hamid, an ojek driver for 11 years, for instance, decided to use the vacant land behind his home to cultivate vegetables and help make ends meet.

"Back my hey-day, when private cars and motorcycles were less common than they are now, I used to get at least Rp 30,000 (about US$3.26) a day," Hamid said.

"Now, I can only get Rp 10,000 at the most.

"It is often that I go home empty handed," the 48-year-old Hamid said Friday.

"That is why since 2001 I have used the (family) land for gardening" he said,

In a 3,000 square meter block behind his West Jakarta home, Hamid grows timun suri (apple cucumber), selada (lettuce), spinach, water spinach and cassava.

He harvests timun suri every two months, lettuce every 40 days and swamp cabbage and spinach every 15 - 20 days.

Hamid, father of five and recently a grandfather, said he sold most of his produce, while the remainder was consumed by his family.

"At harvest time we sell our vegetables at four or five kiosks around here," he said, adding that he could earn up to Rp 400,000 - 500,000 from each harvest.

Hamid grows up to 30 timun suri per harvest, which he sells according to size.

"Smaller ones are priced between Rp 2,000 - 3,000, while larger ones are priced between Rp 5,000 - 6,000," he said.

Aside providing their day-to-day meals, Hamid, who only graduated from elementary school, said he hoped to give all his children a better education than his own.

But due to Hamid's uncertain income, his eldest daughter left school at an elementary level, while his two eldest sons left school at junior high. He said he hopes his youngest son, now also at junior high school will stay on. His youngest daughter is still only two years old.

Hamid said that now it was difficult for him to save money for his children's education.

"I used to save Rp 5,000 - 10,000 a day, but now I rarely save anything," he said.