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fter spending years in evacuation shelters, hundreds of farmers affected by the ongoing eruptions of Mount Sinabung in Karo regency, North Sumatra, can now return to work following the official handover of new farmland to replace their lost land.

As of earlier this month, 348 out of 457 families, who had been relocated from Simacem, Bekerah and Sukameriah subdistricts to Merek district, had each received a 5,000-square-meter plot from local authorities and began cultivation.

The remaining 109 families, meanwhile, will receive their replacement land later this year after the authorities complete the clearing of forest area designated for the purpose.

'€œWe'€™ve waited for this land-distribution program for so long,'€ Ulia Ginting, a local resident, told The Jakarta Post recently.

'€œWe are happy as we can now work again.'€

Ulia and her family left their home and farmland in Simacem, located only a few kilometers from Mt. Sinabung, two years ago as a result of the volcano'€™s escalating activities.

The mother-of-three used to return to her farmland to check her vegetable crops but finally stopped doing so following warnings from local authorities about the danger of Sinabung'€™s eruptions.

Rosmawati, a former resident of Sukameriah, also expressed her gratitude for the land-replacement program.

'€œWe feel like we'€™re living again,'€ she said.

The 2,460-meter Mt. Sinabung was inactive for centuries before erupting in August 2010.

Three years later, it erupted again and has never entirely stopped since then, forcing residents living near the volcano to be constantly prepared for evacuation should volcanic activity escalate suddenly.

The eruptions have also claimed more than a dozen lives and destroyed thousands of houses and hectares of farmland.

In June last year, authorities increased Sinabung'€™s alert status to the highest level. Since then, the volcano has experienced a series of eruptions, with authorities unable to predict when the evacuees will be able to return safely to their homes.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has estimated that more than 2,500 families from nine subdistricts near the volcano have been regularly evacuated to nine evacuation centers in the regency.

Most of the affected residents are farmers.

Karo regent Terkelin Brahmana said the land-distribution program would be carried out in stages until all evacuees had received replacements for their affected property.

The initial stage of the program is targeting evacuees from three subdistricts worst hit by the eruptions, he said.

'€œWe want to see Sinabung evacuees get their livelihoods back after a long struggle with the eruptions,'€
he said.

Karo, located some 100 km southwest of the provincial capital of Medan, is home to some 350,000 residents.

Apart from affecting local farmers, the Sinabung eruptions have also blighted the tourist industry in the regency'€™s Berastagi resort area.

Authorities have repeatedly called on local residents to remain patient in dealing with the impact of Sinabung'€™s eruptions, which some experts have predicted will continue for five more years.

For the past three years, the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) has also instructed evacuees and local residents not to enter the danger zone, covering an area of between 3 km and 7 km.

Separately, Karo Forestry Agency head Martin Sitepu said the local administration had received approval from the Environment and Forestry Ministry to use 416 ha of forest area for the land-replacement program.

'€œOf the allocated land, we have cleared around 200 ha,'€ he said.