Up to 200 Hong Kong-bound domestic helpers remain stranded in Indonesia despite the reopening of several affected airports, as the city’s employment agencies association braces for possible further closures due to volcanic ash.
Indonesian transport authorities said Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport resumed operations on Tuesday after being shut for several days, following the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatoa on Saturday, which affected thousands of travellers.
Cheung Kit-man, chairman of the Hong Kong Employment Agencies Association, said the stranded travellers included 150 to 200 helpers heading to Hong Kong, including new employees and workers returning after their holidays.
Some were expected to fly out on Wednesday as operations resumed, but agencies remained concerned flights could be suspended again if further eruptions occurred, he said.
“Of course we are worried, because it is a natural phenomenon and [the volcano] can erupt at any time. No one can predict it,” Cheung said. “If it does erupt again, we already have contingency plans in place.”
He said that some workers had been diverted to depart from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, located east of Jakarta and currently unaffected by the eruptions.
Agencies had also liaised with airlines to place the stranded helpers on a priority standby list, he added.
Betty Yung Ma Shan-yee, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Employers of Overseas Domestic Helpers Association, said the delay had disrupted arrangements for some families.
“Families, of course, do not want this situation. Especially for those who have to go to work and need [helpers’] care for the elderly, they hope the helpers can arrive as soon as possible ... the impact on them is the greatest,” she said.
“We just hope air travel [resumes normally] quickly so that it can help the families in need.”
The Hong Kong International Airport website showed that out of four incoming flights originally scheduled from Jakarta on Tuesday, three were cancelled.
Mount Anak Krakatoa, located about 150km (93 miles) from Jakarta, erupted on Saturday, spewing a fountain of lava and a plume of volcanic ash.
Eight airports halted operations over the weekend after ash was detected in their airspace, disrupting nearly 3,000 flights and leaving more than 340,000 passengers stranded.
On Monday alone, more than 240 domestic and international flights were cancelled or delayed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, affecting nearly 30,000 travellers. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
