Indonesians thank volcano for eliminating pest: report

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2007

JAKARTA (AFP) — Farmers residing on the slopes of a smouldering Indonesian volcano are thanking the mountain for getting rid of a pest that had devastated the area's coconut palms, a report here said Tuesday.

Gamkonora volcano on Halmahera island in Indonesia's North Maluku province erupted in July, shooting rocks, ash and smoke into the air for days and prompting thousands to flee their homes.

"Almost all our coconut trees were previously ruined by the sexava pest. Now we are completely free of this pest, following Gamkonora blanketing the area with ash in July," the state Antara news agency quoted a local farmer, Yakup, as saying.

Other areas on the same island that were not inundated by the ash continue to suffer from the pest, an insect which voraciously...