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YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) – Indonesia's Mount Merapi spewed
more heat clouds and ash on Monday as the country struggled to care
for 65,000 people displaced by the volcano and a deadly
tsunami.
Searing grey fumes and ash shot high into the sky and rolled
down the slopes of the 2,914-metre (9,616-foot) mountain,
Indonesia's most active volcano, spreading fear and panic among
nearby residents in central Java.
Merapi, a sacred landmark in Javanese culture whose name
translates as "Mountain of Fire", has convulsed regularly since
last Tuesday's major eruptions, driving up to 50,000 people into
temporary shelters.
"There'll be more eruptions as not all the energy has been
released. Eruptions will continue to take place in the weeks
ahead," volcanologist Surono said.
About 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) to the west, officials said
aid was slowly reaching survivors of a tsunami which ravaged
coastal villages on the Mentawai island chain off the coast of
Sumatra last Monday.
The latest official death toll stood at 431 with another 88
missing, feared dead, and almost 15,000 made homeless.
Emergency response officials denied reports that aid is rotting
in ports as desperate survivors scavenge for wild roots a week
after the disaster, which struck in an area that scientists have
long warned is vulnerable to tsunamis.
"The delays were due to unfriendly weather. But now we can reach
the affected areas and aid is being sent, although it's limited,"
official Joskamatir said.
He dismissed reports of looting, poor coordination of the relief
effort and food going bad on the docks as "untrue".
"The relief operations are going very smoothly," he added.
The three-metre wave was triggered by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake
and flattened around 10 villages, destroying schools, mosques and
traditional homes along remote and undeveloped beaches popular with
foreign surfers.
Survivors have complained that aid has been too slow to reach
them, and relief workers have said coordination has been poor.
One villager told AFP on Saturday he had been surviving on wild
taro roots because aid still had not reached his devastated
village, where he said about half the population had been
killed.
Demas Sakerebau, a village chief on North Pagai island, said
people in his area had been "surviving on yams and bananas".
He said aid had reached one hamlet for the first time only on
Sunday and described relief packages being dropped by helicopters
into the sea, flooded rice paddies and trees.
"Only part of the aid has reached the residents. It wasn't
enough," he added.
Officials admit that only a fraction of supplies such as food,
water, tents, medicine and blankets that have reached nearby ports
have been distributed to survivors, citing bad weather and a lack
of boats and helicopters.
"We understand that there's been bad weather, that's a serious
challenge. But this should have been predicted earlier," said
Khalid Saifullah, a coordinator for independent local aid
agencies.
"Delays have been due to inadequate preparation."
Tonnes of aid have been piling up at the Sumatran port of
Padang, half a day's voyage away by sea from the worst-hit islands,
and at unaffected towns on the Mentawais such as Sikakap and Tua
Pejat.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told officials to ignore the
criticism.
"I say don't worry about all that," he told a cabinet meeting in
Jakarta.
"Think of it as a whipping. It always happens. There are people
who give direct help, and there are also many who criticise and
forget to help."
Australia and the United States have pledged aid worth a total
of three million dollars while the European Commission released 1.5
million euros (two million dollars) for victims of both
disasters.
Indonesia straddles a region known as the "Pacific Ring of
Fire", with scores of active volcanoes and major tectonic fault
lines.
Almost 170,000 Indonesians were killed in the 2004 Asian
tsunami, which was also caused by an earthquake off the western
coast of Sumatra. Scientists have said last week's quake and the
2004 catastrophe were related.
