November 14, 2024
DENPASAR – Dozens of international and domestic flights to and from the popular tourist destinations of Bali, Lombok and Labuan Bajo were canceled on Wednesday after the nearby Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki spewed an ash tower into the sky a day before.
At least a dozen eruptions of the volcano in East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), were recorded by the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) on Tuesday, with one spewing volcanic ash as high as 9,000 meters above the summit at noon.
Following the latest eruption on Tuesday night, the Lewotobi Laki-laki Observatory Post issued the highest level of notice for aviation authorities, warning them of imminent ash columns with heights of over 6,000 m above sea level.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said the volcanic ash drifted to the west of NTT and reached the sky above Lombok in neighboring West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province at an altitude of 9,100 meters above sea level on Wednesday afternoon.
The operator of Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia, recorded at least 26 domestic and 64 international flight cancellations to and from the airport on Wednesday, including from Australia and Malaysia, even though the volcanic ash had not affected the airport’s airspace.
“PT Angkasa Pura and all airport management teams are constantly monitoring the situation and hope that everything can return to normal soon,” Ngurah Rai general manager Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said on Wednesday.
Continual eruptions and tremors have been occurring since an initial major eruption on Nov. 3, forcing thousands to flee their homes for safety.
Read also: Flights cancelled to and from Bali due to volcanic ash
From Nov. 4 to Tuesday, at least 84 flights in Bali were canceled in response to Lewotobi’s eruptions, including from Singapore, Hong Kong, and several Australian cities.
Many of the affected airlines are offering affected passengers the options of refunds, rescheduling or rerouting.
Budget airline Air Asia canceled or delayed on Wednesday domestic and international flights to and from Bali and Lombok, as well as Labuan Bajo in NTT, which is the gate to the popular Komodo Island.
A total of nine people were killed in Lewotobi’s major eruption on Nov. 3, with 31 severely injured. Most of the victims were hit by volcanic rocks ejected from the crater.
The danger zone radius was expanded to 9 km from the summit of the mountain in the southwest and northwest sectors on Saturday at noon following a series of eruptions earlier in the day.
More than 13,100 people are currently taking refuge in government-built or self-organized shelters in various locations in East Flores and the neighboring Sikka regency.
Relocation
Authorities are preparing to build 1,100 houses in safer locations for people affected by the eruptions of Lewotobi Laki-laki, Public Housing and Settlements Minister Maruarar Sirait said at a press conference at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Tuesday.
“Many of the evacuees [who will be relocated to safer places] are farmers. That’s why we are considering new locations not too far from their source of income,” Maruarar said, following a meeting led by Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka to scale up the ongoing disaster response.
Maruarar did not disclose what locations were currently being weighed up for the relocation plan. But BNPB head Suharyanto said the possible locations were two parcels of land in the villages of Konga and Kobasoma in Titehena district, each 50 hectares in size.
Read also: Government to build 1,100 new houses for Lewotobi displaced
The government plans to permanently relocate all residents living within a 7-kilometer radius of the volcano’s crater.
More than 16,000 residents live in the villages nearest to the volcano, but the government is still calculating how many will be permanently relocated.
The BNPB has recommended the government build 2,700 new houses for relocated families.
Authorities are also considering relocating two shelters in Talibura, Sikka, to a safer place in East Flores.
On Tuesday night, President Prabowo Subianto, via teleconference from Washington, DC, led a meeting of his cabinet in Jakarta on Lewotobi disaster relief.