Indonesian President Joko Widodo has plans to visit evacuees from Mt. Agung volcano during his working trip to Bali.
Last time the president came to the island to hand out thousands of land certificates in Bali and was photographed shopping in Kuta. The circumstances for his current trip will have a different tone, with the volcano threatening to erupt at any minute now.
The president and first lady arrived in Bali on Monday evening via Semarang, accompanied by Cabinet Secretary Pramono Agung and Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil.
Jokowi’s chief of staff, Teten Masduki, confirmed to reporters that the president has plans to go to Karangasem to meet with evacuees on Tuesday.
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As of Monday, it was reported that nearly 50,000 had fled their homes for fear of an imminent eruption from Bali’s Mt. Agung. Evacuees are spread out amongst 301 points of refuge, according to data from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
The highest alert level for the volcano was raised on Friday, following increasing volcanic activity. An exclusion zone of nine kilometers has been set from the crater.
