Volcanic Ash Has Reached Jakarta? It's Rumor, Said Numbery

YOGYAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Transportation Minister Fredy Numbery has denied rumors that Mount Merapi ash has drifted over  Java Island and reached the capital Jakarta threatening airline flights. 

There was no volcanic ash over Jakarta so the sky was still safe for flights to and from the Indonesian capital, he said here Saturday after attending a cabinet meeting led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the latter’s temporary office at the Gedung Agung here.   

"I can affirm that no volcanic ash has reached Jakarta,  Soekarno-Hatta international airport in particular." he said, adding that therefore it was not necessary to close Soekarno-Hatta airport.       He admitted that some major foreign airlines had canceled or delayed their flights to Jakarta but this  was not because of  volcanic ash but an Australian airline’s "Notice to Airman".       "Previously, the Australian airline had issued a Notice to Airman which was also associated with the volcanic eruptions. The notification triggered concern among  other foreign airlines, but it is not true," the minister  said.        Fredy said he had great trust in the accuracy of data he had received from several government agencies responsible for measuring  the impact of the Mt Merapi volcanic ash, They were the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), and the Center for Volcanological and Geological Hazard Mitigation of the  Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.       "We have monitored the heat clouds from Mount Merapi, and the volcanic ash has yet to reach Jakarta," he said.        People must not panic and be concerned too much because  Soekarno-Hatta International airport was still safe for flights, he said.        "The Garuda airline is still conducting flights to Japan and Dubai, that is proof  that it is still safe to land on or depart from Soekarno-Hatta international airport," he said.