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esidents of Lingga village, Simpang Empat district, in the regency of Karo, North Sumatra, have opposed the government’s plan to relocate more people affected by the eruptions of Mount Sinabung to their area.

They said the arrival of more people to the village could trigger conflict with locals.

“The point is we reject the government’s plan to relocate Sinabung evacuees to Lingga,” Lingga village head Servis Ginting told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Previously, the government had relocated 150 families affected by Mt. Sinabung’s eruptions to Lingga. If the government goes through with its plan to relocate more people to Lingga, it would overpopulate the village, said Servis.

He said local residents were not discriminating against the evacuees but were only concerned about the influx of too many people. It was feared that local order could be disrupted.

According to data at the Karo Regency Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the number of evacuees to be relocated to Lingga was 1,683 families. They came from Berastepu, Gamber, Gurukinayan and Kuta Tonggal villages — areas affected by the eruptions.

The number of evacuees relocated to Gajah, Lambar and Nang Belawan villages, on the other hand, was just under 50 families each.

Lingga is a historical village in Karo, located some 8 kilometers to the south of Mt. Sinabung. Covering an area of 1,600 hectares, Lingga has a population of 1,000 families. The UNESCO-listed Sibayak Lingga Kingdom is located in Lingga.

Servis assured that no more space was available in the village as most had been either cultivated or inhabited by locals. He expressed fear that the limited land would trigger conflicts between locals and new
residents.

“I cannot understand why the relocation program is only focused at Lingga while there are many other villages with larger areas,”
said Servis.

He also said if the evacuees were evenly distributed among available villages in the district it was possible that Lingga could accept some of them.

Separately, Simpang Empat district head Eddy Ridwan Ginting said his administration had several times approached Lingga residents to accept the evacuees but they kept rejecting.

Meanwhile, Natanael Perangin-angin of BPBD Karo said the regency was in a dilemma considering that there was urgent need to relocate the evacuees but resistance was high among Lingga residents.

Providing an example Natanael said last week dozens of Sinabung evacuees from Berastepu, Gamber, Gurukinayan and Kuta Tonggal villages staged a rally at the regent’s office demanding to be relocated immediately. Concurrently, resistance from Lingga subdistricts was apparent.

“This is the problem. In fact, we want to have this independent relocation program completed soon,” Natanael told the Post, Sunday.

He added that the government had allocated Rp 110 million (US$8,360) for each family relocating as compensation to build a home and purchase agricultural land.

He said with the funds, each family was free to choose where to relocate. The fund would be given once they find a suitable place. Based on a proposal from evacuees, Lingga had been the most sought after area. He said he did not know why that was the case but the government had no reason to say no to the
proposal.

Last week, the Presidential Chief of Staff, Teten Masduki, and National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Willem Rampangilei visited Lingga to help find a solution to the problem and meet the President’s target of ending the ongoing evacuation issue caused by Mt. Sinabung.

President Joko Widodo is scheduled to visit Karo by the end of this year to make sure that no more evacuees are still residing at evacuation centers. The President is also scheduled to attend this year’s Christmas celebrations in the regency.