T

he Karo Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has delayed until further notice Thursday'€™s scheduled return of refugees displaced by the Mount Sinabung eruption, pending the disbursement of cash assistance for the evacuees from the Karo regency administration.

Karo BPBD head Subur Tambun said the delay was not related to the current fresh eruptions of Sinabung, but occurred because the regency administration had yet to receive funds for the financial assistance '€” called the cash-for-work program '€” from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

'€œWe are still waiting for the disbursement,'€ Subur told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The cash-for-work funds will be provided to each returning family, aimed at helping evacuees who can not yet cultivate their farms as the land has been affected by volcanic ash.

Under the program, each family head will be provided with Rp 50,000 (US$4) daily for 60 days. Some 795 households will receive the funding, worth a total of Rp 2.385 billion.

According to Subur, the disbursement of funds was still being processed by the BNPB in Jakarta.

'€œWe hope the process will be quick so evacuees can immediately return home,'€ said Subur.

As many as 2,443 people hailing from Sukanalu and Sigarang-garang villages will be the last to return home and have spent over a year in evacuation centers due to Mt. Sinabung'€™s frequent eruptions.

When reached for confirmation, BNPB emergency response director Junjungan Tambunan said the Karo regency administration had yet to submit a request for the funds. Junjungan, however, pointed out that the BNPB was ready to help evacuees should the Karo regent request assistance.

'€œIf the Karo regency budget is inadequate to help the evacuees, the BNPB is ready to help. The most important thing is there'€™s no bias,'€ Junjungan told the Post on Wednesday.

He said the BNPB did not wish to see an overlap in the distribution of funds for the Sinabung evacuees. He added that, as far as he knew, many relevant agencies, such as the Social Affairs Ministry, were also distributing aid to the evacuees.

According to Junjungan, the Karo regency administration must clarify such matters to prevent overlaps in aid distribution.

'€œShould no one want to help, we will be ready [to help],'€ Junjungan reiterated.

Separately, an evacuee from Sukanalu village, Ikuten Sitepu, said evacuees were not informed of the delayed repatriation until noon Wednesday, by which time many of them had started packing their belongings to prepare for their return.

Ikuten said evacuees would need assistance after they returned.

'€œHow will we put food on the table when we return home? All our farms are damaged, and we can'€™t sell anything for a living. The only hope is for the government to help us through the cash-for-work program,'€ said Ikuten.