East Java Tourism News

Fewer tourists visit Karimunjawa

Suherdjoko and Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Jepara, Kupang

High waves and heavy storms along the north coast of Java over the last few days have decreased the number of visitors to Karimunjawa islands, about 120 kilometers north of Semarang in Central Java.

“Ferries that usually serve the route from Semarang and Jepara to Karimunjawa have been forced to stop operation. That’s why the number of tourist arrivals has shrunk over the past few days,” said Abdul Muin, 60, the owner of a homestay in Karimunjawa.

Abdul said under normal conditions hundreds of domestic and international tourists visited Karimunjawa every weekend.

Semarang Meteorology and Geophysics Agency reported waves in the Java Sea reached up to 2.5-3.5 meters with winds up to 30 knots.

“We warn all ferries not to sail due to the bad weather. We predict these conditions will last up to the end of January,” said head of climatology at the agency, M Chaeran, on Saturday.

Abdul said the number of tourist arrivals would be back to normal in February or March as the waves returned to normal.

It was also reported that floods in Kudus, Central Java, had decreased, although they still threatened a number of districts on the north coast of Java, such as Jati, Mejobo and Kaliwungu.

The Central Java Communication and Information Agency reported the floods had inundated 1,241 houses and damaged more than 1,000 hectares of farmland in Grobogan alone.

Grobogan is one of a number of cities affected by the recent flooding caused by overflow from the Bengawan Solo River.

Spokesman of the Central Java province administration Agus Utomo said the worst-affected area was Undaan district in Kudus regency.

Central Java Governor Ali Mufiz asked the central government to help the province in overcoming flood problems by constructing reservoirs and strengthening all embankments along large rivers in Central Java.

Meanwhile, it was reported from Palu in Central Sulawesi that heavy storms damaged a tower and uprooted trees on Saturday evening, causing traffic jams in a number of locations. There were no casualties reported.

Palu Meteorology and Geophysics Agency predicted bad weather would last until the middle of January.

Tjatur Iswahyuanto of the Kupang Meteorology and Geophysics Agency warned East Nusa Tenggara residents Sunday to be careful of the bad weather.

He said high waves and heavy storms would continue for the next few days.

He also warned all ferries not to sail through Flores Sea, Banda Sea and Timor Sea due to high waves that could reach up to seven meters, while in other coastal areas the waves could reach three to four meters.

The bad weather forced ferries to cease operation and prevented fishermen from going to the sea.

Heavy rain and storms inundated 192 houses and more than 50 hectares of farmland in Kakuluk Mesak district in Belu regency. It also caused a clean water shortage throughout the region.

From North Central Timor regency it was reported the flood that swept the region had inundated 283 houses. The water level was still around 50-100 centimeters.

Ruslan Sangadji contributed to this article from Palu, Central Sulawesi.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Add comment January 7th, 2008

Java villagers flee fresh mudflow

Villagers on the Indonesian island of Java have had to flee a wave of volcanic mud for the second time in less than two years.

 

While heavy monsoon rains caused the latest breachr, many residents are blaming man-made activity for creating the danger in the first place.

Residents of Ketapang Keres village in East Java fled their homes in panic as hot, foul smelling mud inundated their houses late last week after the mud volcano breached the barriers built to contain it.

Railway tracks and a major road near Porong village were partially submerged before the watery mud receded.

 

Workers struggled to close the gap in the barrier which had been built after relentless mudflows near Indonesia’s second-largest city, Surabaya, forced more than 15,000 people to flee in 2006.

 

Since then thousands of homes, schools and factories have been swamped.

 

Environmentalists say a company called Lapindo that was drilling for gas at the time, started the disaster in 2006.

 

An investigation found that the company had indeed violated drilling rules, but in December a court cleared Lapindo of any wrongdoing, saying an earthquake that happened two days before the drilling started was to blame.

 

Minister’s company

Lapindo is partly owned by the family of Aburizal Bakrie, a cabinet minister and businessman whose family last year topped a Forbes’ magazine list of Indonesia’s richest.

 

The government has tried several schemes to halt the mudflow, including trying to channel the mud to sea and dropping giant concrete balls into the crater, but all attempts have failed.

 

Engineers built the dams to hold back the sludge, but they were about to overflow even before heavy rains started pounding the area several weeks ago.

Ahmad Zulkarnain, a spokesman for the government body managing the mudflow, said they had been unable to reinforce the 5-metre high dam because there has been no agreement on compensation with the owner of the land where the dam is situated.

 

The government ordered Lapindo to pay $403.6m in compensation to the victims and to cover the damage.

 

Some victims have accepted compensation but thousands of others still living in makeshift shelters are frustrated and angry.

 

And those affected last week “will not receive any compensation”, Imam Utomo, the regional governor, said.

 

The government has run out of ideas and money to stop the tide, and with 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools of fresh mud surfacing every day, no one knows when the flow will end.

Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/

Add comment January 7th, 2008