A housing complex is seen covered with ash from Mount Kelud, in Yogyakarta February 14, 2014.
No travel warning so far over Mt Kelud eruption - Tourism and Creative Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said no country had so
far issued a travel warning for its citizens with regard to the eruption
of Mount Kelud in Kediri, East Java.
"Up to now, there is no
country which has issued a travel warning," the minister said here on
Sunday in her reply to a reporter's question over the possibility of a
travel warning from other countries due to Mount Kelud eruption that
caused the closure of a number of airports and tourism destinations such
as Adi Sutjipto airport and the Borobudur Buddhist Temple.
The
minister said she continued to monitor locations which had to be closed
and had still to be opened. "We ask tourist destination operators to
protect tourist sites and clean them from volcanic ash," she said.
She
also asked local tourism services to continue providing information on
their tourist destinations which were affected by volcanic ash.
"The
most important thing is that safety and security must be given to
tourism operators. If it is considered insecure, a tourist destination
or even an airport should well be temporarily closed," she said.
Mount
Kelud in Kediri, East Java, erupted on Thursday night last week,
sending volcanic materials to its surroundings, causing the death of
four people, the evacuation of 210 thousand villagers and the closure of
seven airports.
Seven airports and one airstrip remained closed
on Saturday, as of 10 am local time, due to volcanic ash from Mount
Kelud in East Java.
Head of Data and Information Center of
National Disaster Mitigation Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a
statement on Saturday that the closed airports were Juanda (Surabaya),
Adi Sumarmo (Solo), Adi Sucipto (Yogyakarta) Abdulrahman Saleh (Malang),
Ahmad Yani (Semarang), Husein Sastranegara (Bandung) besides the
Tunggul Wulung airstrip in Cilacap.
Minister Mari Elka Pangestu admitted that the Mount Kelud eruption will affect tourist arrivals to Indonesia.
"The
ministry is in a position to explain the sites safe for tourism and
others that are not due to the eruption," Mari Elka Pangestu said in
West Kalimantan on Friday.
Due to the eruption of Mount Kelud,
several tourism sites have been forced to close, such as the Borobudur
Temple in Magelang, Central Java and the Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta.
On
Friday, a total of 332 flights from Juanda were cancelled along with 28
from Adisumarmo, 110 from Adisucipto, 76 from Ahmad Yani, 16 from
Abdurrahman Saleh, and 24 from Husein Sastranegara.
Therefore,
the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is monitoring developments
related to natural disasters at home to ascertain areas safe for
tourists.
The ministry, according to Minister Mari Elka Pangestu,
is monitoring the updated data from the National Disasters Mitigation
Agency (BNPB) related to safe and unsafe areas.
She added that
unlike the eruption of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra Province, not all
areas fell in the dangerous category. "For example, Medan, although
located in the same province, is far away from Mount Sinabung. So, it is
safe to visit Medan," she elaborated.
This article originally appeared in : No travel warning so far over Mt Kelud eruption | Republika.co.id | Sunday, 16 February 2014, 22:02 WIB
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