REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- A total of 2,443 or 795 families of Mt Siabung eruption victims in North Sumatra now need assistance on agriculture, a disaster mitigation chief spokesman said.
"Based on our interviews, they told us that they were reluctant to return to their village because their agricultural land could not be cultivated because of volcanic ash covering their land," Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) for Public Relations and Data Center Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Tuesday (13/1).
He said that the thickness of the volcanic ash covering their land could reach up to 10 centimeters, causing the land to be difficult to cultivate.
"During rainy season, the volcanic ash mixed again and then hardened causing difficulties for farmers to till it," he said.
Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra erupted sometime ago and is now still showing volcanic activities and is still on an alert status.
On Monday, the volcano still belched volcanic materials 159 times and hot cloud 13 times with avalanches reaching as far as 3,500 meters to the south direction.
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