Potential Eruption, Covid-19; Mount Merapi National Park Limits Tourist Activity
Translator
Dewi Elvia Muthiariny
Editor
Petir Garda Bhwana
Kamis, 5 November 2020 08:22 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta - The Mount Merapi National Park (TNGM) confirmed that until now it is still closing most tourist activities in its management area following potential mount eruption and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The status of the volcano has been at the alert level since May 2018 and it has been increasing recently. Indonesia has also been hit by an ongoing non-natural disaster, the Covid-19 pandemic, since March 2020.
“We still close hiking activities to the mountain peak since May 21, 2018, until now, and most of the tourist attractions have not been opened since March 2020,” said the Head of the TNGM, Pujiati, in a webinar on the mitigation and contingency plans in times of pandemic on Wednesday, November 4, 2020.
Puji said the central government has indeed announced that TNGM is one of 29 national parks that are permitted to open during the pandemic. Indonesia has a total of 58 national parks. However, due to rising volcanic activity, only tourist sites near the volcano are reopened.
Puji underlined that her side was closely monitoring Mount Merapi areas to ensure there are no people activities within a radius of three kilometers from the summit.
Also Read: Mount Merapi Erupts Twice on Sunday
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