Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika has declared a state of emergency to handle evacuees from Mount Agung.
The governor has put on a brave face, insisting that Bali’s foreign arrivals have not been impacted by the looming threat of an eruption from Mount Agung and has urged tourists that it’s still safe to vacation in Bali outside of the “danger zone.” But the government clearly has its hands full tending to the needs of the thousands of evacuees who fled in anticipation of Agung erupting for the first time since 1963.
As of Monday, as many 139,945 people have reportedly evacuated from Bali’s rumbling volcano, spread across 419 refuge points in nine regencies in Bali. The number has dropped slightly from 144,000 people, because residents who evacuated outside of the volcano’s danger zone—of nine to 12 kilometers from the crater—were told to go home on Saturday. However, many evacuees who live just outside the “red zone” have expressed apprehension about returning home.
Issuing a letter, declaring a tentative state of emergency to run from Sept. 29 to Oct. 12, the governor can extend or shorten the two-week period, if needed.
“Therefore, based on the contents of the letter, the Bali provincial government and the regency/city-level governments in Bali need to take steps to provide shelters for evacuees and meet their basic needs, adequately,” Bali Province Protocol Bureau spokesman Dewa Gede Mahendra Putra, said in Denpasar on Monday.
The letter can serve as a basis for regency-level authorities to pull funds to help the evacuees, according to Putra.
Mount Agung, located in Karangasem regency, is about 75 kilometers from the tourist hub of Kuta. The volcano has been on the highest alert level for an eruption since Sept. 22. A fissure vent was observed at the volcano’s crater last week and clouds of white steam clouds containing sulfurous fumes were also spotted shooting up from the crater.
The number of volcanic tremors recorded at Agung as of Monday morning, was still high but the situation was stable, according to Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG).
