Indonesia’s danger zone: Construction starts over buried bodies
Despite government’s instructions not to build in affected areas, construction started, and the tragedy may repeat.
Thousands of people in Indonesia will have to be relocated after their land turned into mud when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the coast of Sulawesi in September.
The authorities were reportedly aware of the risk of liquefaction, as it’s called – but people living in high-risk areas were not told.
Despite the government’s instructions not to build in the affected areas, some construction has already started. Horse stables have now been built on the land where hundreds of bodies are buried. Some say that if the authorities are not firm, new neighborhoods will be constructed and the tragedy that happened only recently will soon be forgotten.
Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen reports.