In Brief: Indonesian government relocates volcano-displaced

JAKARTA, 18 July 2011 (IRIN) - The Indonesian government has begun temporarily relocating more than 5,000 people displaced by the eruption of Mount Lokon on the northern part of Sulawesi Island and currently housed in four schools in the town of Tomohon.

"This is a temporary measure," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho,  a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, told IRIN on 18 July, noting that residents would be relocated to the State University of Manado so that students could return to class.

His comments came one day after the 1,580m-high Lokon spewed ash 3.5km into the air in the biggest eruption since the first one on 14 July, according to the head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, Surono, who like many Indonesians uses one name.

The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has set up a public kitchen and distributed masks, blankets and sleeping mats for the displaced, said Irwan Lalegit, head of PMI's disaster emergency response coordination for North Sulawesi Province. "We need more masks after yesterday's eruption because people could get sick because of the ash," Lalegit said.

atp/ds/mw

Theme (s): Natural Disasters, Refugees/IDPs,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]