T

he Mount Sinabung restricted emergency zone, which has been enforced since Nov. 3 in Karo regency, North Sumatra, will be evaluated in accordance with volcanic intensity.

Emergency response commander Lt. Col. Meyer Putong, who is also Tanah Karo Military Command chief, said emergency operations had entered their fourth week. He added that response measures had been carried out on a weekly basis, but starting last Sunday they would be implemented once every two weeks.

As long as the restricted zone remains in effect, no one is allowed to carry out any activities, including farming, within a radius of 5 kilometers from the volcano's crater.

Putong said that if the volcano remained stable the restricted zone would be lifted on Dec. 7. He added that his command, together with the Karo regency administration and geological agency, would evaluate the continued imposition of the restricted zone.

'We will assess the activity of the volcano. If it remains dangerous, the restricted zone will remain in place, but if the volcano has calmed down we will lift it,' Putong said on Monday.

He said residents were frustrated with the restricted zone, as it prevented them from performing their usual activities. According to Putong, the zone was aimed at minimizing the number of victims in the event of an intense eruption.

'We are grateful no casualties have been reported so far, thanks to residents complying with our instruction,' said Putong, adding that a number of evacuees sometimes returned to their villages secretly to check on their farms and livestock.

Putong said that around 21 villages and two hamlets located 5 km from the volcano had been evacuated for the safety of residents.

'We have evacuated 17,288 residents to 31 shelters,' said Putong.

In the meantime, many of the evacuees try to seek alternative means of living.

Bunga Sembiring, 50, of Gurukinayan village, said many residents had lost their livelihood since they were prohibited from returning home during the emergency period. As a result, residents at the shelters sought work as farmhands on other people's land to continue to support their families.

'Without work, we can't put food on the table. Our farms can no longer be tilled as they have been covered by volcanic ash. We need money to meet our daily needs,' said Bunga at a shelter in Kabanjahe on Monday.

Bunga said she had been working as a laborer on a farm in Payung district over the past several days, earning a daily wage of Rp 50,000 (US$4.50).

'The earnings are much lower than what we would make on our own farm,' said Bunga, as she harvested coffee cherries on a local resident's plantation.