Displaced Indonesian villagers left struggling for aid after massive volcano eruption
World
Villagers said they could not receive enough rice to feed their families from current shelter
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian villagers displaced by the recent eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki say they are lacking adequate aid in the makeshift shelters they now occupy.
Despite being out of harm’s way, Agata Una Rajan, who originally hails from a village close to the volcano’s danger zone in East Nusa Tenggara Province, said she has been unable to receive enough rice to feed her family from her current shelter. Instead, Agata said she is forced to return back to her soot-covered home to procure and cook rice for her family, then bring back to the shelter.
"There are 46 people in this tent, but the rice we've been receiving is not enough for everyone here,” said Agata, who has been living in a shelter since Lewotobi Laki-Laki's first large eruption back in November last year.
Other villagers like Margaretha Ose Bedin also confirmed they were facing issues with aid and supplies, bemoaned the fact that they are currently unable to work, and their children are unable to attend school.
"I feel calmer here because we're far from the eruption, but we're also losing our jobs. Our kids' school is disrupted, and we don't have any comfortable space here,” Margaretha told Reuters on Thursday.
Meanwhile, all flights to and from the Indonesian resort island of Bali resumed on Thursday after being cancelled or delayed due to eruptions of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, officials said.
The volcano, erupted on Tuesday, spewing ash 11 km (7 miles) high.
Eighty-seven flights to and from Bali, consisting of 66 international and 21 domestic flights, were affected on Wednesday by the eruption, the Bali airport operator said in a statement. These included connections to Australia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.
On Thursday, flights from Bali departed on schedule to Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and China, Gede Eka Sandi Asmadi, an official at Bali airport, said in a statement.
These flights were operated by airlines including Malaysia Airlines, Virgin Australia, JetStar and Singapore Airlines, Asmadi added.
"Until now, all the operations have been running smoothly, both departures and arrivals," Asmadi said.
Flights operated by Qantas and its low-cost carrier JetStar were scheduled to operate as normal on Thursday, the company said.
A number of flights operated by AirAsia Malaysia and AirAsia Indonesia to and from Bali, Lombok and Labuan Bajo, which were cancelled since Wednesday, have also resumed, the airline said.
Two airports in East Nusa Tenggara province reopened on Thursday after being temporarily closed on Wednesday.
However, authorities extended the closure of Fransiskus Xaverius Seda airport in Maumere until Friday as there was still some volcanic ash in the air posing a risk to flights, the airport's operator said in a post on social media.
Dozens of residents living in three villages nearest to the volcano have been evacuated, the local disaster mitigation agency said.
According to Indonesia's volcanology agency, Lewotobi has erupted 427 times this year. Tuesday's eruption is the largest since November last year when it erupted several times, and killed at least nine people.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates.
