Mt Merapi guarded against theft
Mt. Merapi in Central Java keeps threatening to blows its top. Residents are more concerned with their neighbors than the volcano. Indonesia has a problem with respect for the rule of law. Stealing and lying about it, are very prevalent in this country.
Here in Bali there is no word in the Balinese dictionary for ‘lying’. A friend of mine once asked a Balinese guy ‘So what do you say if someone told you something that wasn’t true.” He said “We say good, the bigger the story, the better.”
Most people I meet in daily life are sweet and friendly. Its the few bad eggs (and their hangers on ) that create the problems. Handling stolen goods doesn’t seem to be a moral problem here either. With that in mind, we turn to Mt. Merapi. Residents who have evacuated have enlisted the help of local youths, to patrol and make sure their places aren’t ransacked. Here’s more from the Jakarta Post.
Merapi evacuees take security into own hands
Slamet Susanto and Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta, Klaten
Evacuees have set up security posts at dozens of abandoned villages located on the slopes of the rumbling Mt. Merapi to prevent looting.
Young men, assisted by the military and police, have been manning the posts each night since Saturday, when people began evacuating after Merapi spewed out massive clouds of hot ash and lava.
“If the villages are not guarded, thieves will roam free,” Prawiro, a resident of Boyong hamlet in Sleman regency, said Thursday.
Access to evacuated villages in Sleman regency in Yogyakarta and Magelang, Klaten and Boyolali regencies in Central Java has been blocked off, with each entrance gate guarded by up to 10 residents. Only residents and government officials are allowed into the villages.
Journalists who want to enter the villages must produce a special identity card issued by local authorities.
All roads within an eight-kilometer radius of Merapi’s crater have been closed, with the roads blocked off with everything from piles of chairs to bamboo trees.
“Yesterday there was a man claiming to be a local resident who was allowed to enter the hamlet. He turned out to be a thief. So now anybody without an identity card is prohibited from entering,” said Jarwo, who was standing guard at Mbendo hamlet in Sleman.
Officers from the natural disaster mitigation unit in Sleman are also helping to shut off roads in the regency. Seven major roads leading to villages within a 10-kilometer radius of Merapi’s crater have been totally blocked by officers, with no one permitted entry since Monday evening.
Civilian guards also can be found in Klaten regency. Seven gates have been erected along a 15-kilometer stretch of the main road Jl. Deles. Entrance gates have also been set up at access roads to hamlets.
“At least 100 youths are using motorcycles to guard houses and other belongings, including goats and cows,” said Suwardi, the secretary of Kaliurang village in Srumbung district, Magelang.
Cows cost between Rp 6 million (US$666) and Rp 8 million, and represent the most expensive and important possessions for many residents.
Most owners return to their villages each morning to feed their livestock grass. “The grass is usually gathered by the youths on guard duty at the barns. We have told them to be careful when gathering the grass. If they see any danger they have been told to flee,” Suwardi said.
The civilian guards stationed at the villages are not being paid, and not always fed. “On the first day they had to cook sweet potatoes because no one brought them any food. On the second day they got food from the public kitchen,” said Sumini, a resident of Kaliurang hamlet.
The biggest concern is rain, because the civilian guards are sleeping outdoors on mats. “Fortunately there hasn’t been any rain so far … and we hope there won’t be any in the near future,” said Sudaryanto, another resident.
Besides protecting their villages from thieves, residents are also watching Merapi’s activity 24 hours a day. At Tunggul Arum hamlet in Sleman regency, residents have set up posts to monitor Merapi. At the first sign of an eruption they will bang drums to warn others.
When Merapi spewed out hot clouds of ash in 1994 in the direction of Turgo hamlet in Sleman, the drums proved more effective then modern equipment like sirens, said Supardi, a resident of Tunggul Arum.
The pounding drums warned of the approaching danger and within 15 minutes all of the residents had been alerted. The sirens from Sleman regency’s disaster mitigation unit were only heard 15 minutes after the first drum was struck, he said. Additional reporting by Suherdjoko in Magelang