W

ith experts unsure when to expect an end to the volcanic activity of Mount Sinabung in Karo regency, North Sumatra, the government has revealed a plan to build temporary houses for over 10,000 local people affected by the volcano'€™s eruptions.

Mt. Sinabung, which had stood inactive for centuries, erupted in September 2013 and has never entirely stopped its activity since then, forcing residents living near the volcano to be constantly prepared for evacuation should the activity suddenly escalate.

Earlier this month, more than 10,000 residents of subdistricts in the vicinity of Mt. Sinabung were evacuated after authorities increased the alert status of the volcano to the highest level. The volcano has seen a series of eruptions since then, with authorities unable to predict when the evacuees will be able to return safely to their homes.

Speaking after a coordination meeting with local officials in Medan on Tuesday evening, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) director Syamsul Maarif confirmed that the government was planning to build temporary houses for evacuees as part of wide-ranging efforts to mitigate the volcano'€™s ongoing eruptions.

However, Syamsul said, the government was still looking for the best location for the houses, safe from Mt. Sinabung'€™s eruptions but still close to evacuees'€™ farmland.

'€œThis is what the [North Sumatra] governor and I have been discussing because some of the residents'€™ farmland is still able to be cultivated,'€ he said.

Mt. Sinabung'€™s eruptions have killed at least 17 people and destroyed thousands of houses and hectares of farmland.

According to Syamsul, the BNPB has channeled Rp 141.2 billion (US$10.5 million) in aid to the Karo regency administration and Mt. Sinabung evacuees since 2013. However, the number of evacuees had continued to increase over the past two years, he added, with the volcano erupting in several different directions.

Karo Regency Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) chief Subur Tambun, meanwhile, said that the agency had been working on the design of the temporary houses, which would be built like warehouses equipped with kitchens and bathrooms.

According to Subur, the facilities are likely to be built in the regency'€™s Simpang Empat and Naman Teran districts.

'€œHowever, we still have no idea about the number of the house that we will build. It all depends on the available funds,'€ he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

By building temporary houses, Subur said, the government would no longer need to spend money to rent spaces to accommodate evacuees.

'€œIn the long term, this will be much more economical, because we don'€™t know when Mt. Sinabung will stop erupting,'€ Subur said, adding that the local administration was currently renting 10 venues to accommodate 10,470 Mt. Sinabung evacuees.

Karo Regent Terkelin Brahmana also welcomed the government'€™s plan to build temporary accommodation, saying that Mt. Sinabung evacuees would be pleased by the government'€™s intention to set up the facilities near their farmland.

Meanwhile, as of Wednesday, Mt. Sinabung was still spewing pyroclastic flows and volcanic ash. Mt. Sinabung observation post head Armen Putra said that to prevent accidents, his office was continuing to call on locals not to conduct activities within the recommended radius of seven kilometers from the crater of the volcano.