Indonesia: Residents stay calm despite Mount Merapi's latest rumbling

By Sukino Harisumarto, dpa

Mount Merapi, Indonesia_(dpa) _ As Indonesia's Mount Merapi spewed hot lava and clouds of gas out of its crater, residents on the slopes of the volcano go about their daily activities undisturbed.

The scene in many areas around the volcano sharply contrasts with the fears of scientists, aid workers and officials who are preparing for what they warn could be the next disaster after the Java quake.

"I will go up there looking for grass to feed my cows," said Sunarti, a resident of Dusun Tritis, about five kilometres from Merapi's crater. "This is my daily activity."

"If anything happens, or Mount Merapi erupts, we will immediately come down," said Sunarti, who with dozens of neighbours returned three days ago from staying at an evacuation centre for two weeks. "If the lava comes from one direction, I'll run in another."

Sunarti and other villagers say they're not overly concerned, despite the warnings backed by science, as long as they remain on constant alert, with bags packed.

And that their decisions to return are backed by necessity.

"Living in the temporary shelters is only wasting our money," said Pardjono, a neighbour who like many Indonesians goes only by one name. "While staying in the makeshift centres earns no money, the price of toys for my children is skyrocketing."

Even more resolute in their decision to stay are the residents of Kinahrejo, who showed less fear and whose decision to stay is based more on faith in Marijan, Merapi's so-called "key holder", than in necessity.

"All of us here believed Mbah (Grandfather) Marijan," said Sunarno, a 35-year-old farmer. "If he says we have to go, then we will leave; otherwise we will stay."

The seventy-nine-year-old Marijan, who is a royal servant of the Yogyakarta Palace, has been assigned the "caretaker" of Mount Merapi since 1965 and is believed to have a supernatural ability to understand the volcano.

Despite pressure by officials and scientists, who fear the volcano's eruption is imminent, Marijan - whose ability to read the volcano was passed along from his father, the previous caretaker -has said Merapi's activities have yet to prove a real threat to the people living in the Kinahrejo area, including himself.

"Merapi is quiet and we remain peaceful here," Marijan was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post. "If there is an eruption, it may go in the direction of the Blongkeng, Krasak or Sendowo rivers, all toward Magelang, Central Java."

"It is only natural for Merapi to erupt," he said. "Even a human being needs to defecate when he is full, otherwise he will get sick. A mountain behaves likewise."

Thus normal life goes in Kinahrejo for now. Despite the sour smell of sulphur in the air, and the street signs that warn of looming danger, children can be seen playing in the yard and women hanging washed clothes.

"We feel safer here, and we know when we have to flee," Sunarno said. "If an eruption comes, at least you can run. You can't run from an earthquake."

Most villagers in the area say they fear another quake like the one that hit Yogyakarta and surrounding areas on May 27, leaving over 5,700 dead and 36,000 injured, more than a volcanic eruption, despite the fact the Mount Merapi's activity increased dramatically after the quake.

"Merapi can be a threat or a friend, depending on how you treat it," Pardjono said. "It gives us prosperity, by making the soil so fertile, and provides us with sand for construction."

"When it is angry, like now, it is because we are greedy and selfish, and our leaders are corrupt and don't look after the people properly," he added. dpa sh eu tl