Yogyakarta fishermen sit out high waves

High waves, up to five meters high, have forced fishermen in Yogyakarta to stop going to sea for the past week.

“Since last Friday waves have reached five meters high and the wind has been very strong. We would rather not go,” Mugari, 34, a fisherman in Samas Beach, Bantul, told kompas.com.

Suroyo, a Parangtritis search and rescue team chief, said that they have deployed more people to ease monitoring on the beach, which is one of favorite recreational places in the province.

“We have deployed 50 personnel to watch the beach, which is used for Peh Cun celebration,” he said referring to the traditional Chinese thanksgiving ceremony.

Separately, Tony Wijaya, a top official at Yogyakarta weather agency, said that high waves on the southern coast was caused by a collision of high wind pressure from the north and the south.

“[The waves] are quite high this week. We will still see the same condition next week,” he said. (dre)