Love nests for volcano evacuees

The agency looking after the Mount Sinabung eruption evacuees have put up love tents for the people near a shelter.

The North Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has built these "romance chambers" which measure 3m by 3m.

They are clustered together on a field about 50m from the evacuee shelter area, the Jakarta Post reported.

Two such tents were also set up near a shelter located around 17km from Mount Sinabung in Karo regency.

Inside each tent, a rubber mattress and a small cubicle to be used as a changing room.

The romance chambers are bright enough during the day and at night, users can get a lamp from a monitoring post located about 200m from the tents.

The evacuees have welcomed these shelters with open arms, saying that they come in handy when couples need some time together, away from the buzz of the evacuation centres.

Evacuee Riana Sembiring, 22, said: "They are indeed suitable for couples in need of venting their sexual desire, especially after staying in the shelter for months."

When asked if she had used the love room, she just smiled coyly.

ETHICAL

The mother of three said it was "a private matter".

Another evacuee, Mr Teguh Malem Sembiring, 37, acknowledged that some married couples have made use of the rooms.

Said Mr Malem: "Some couples have used them, but we don't speak bluntly about it."

The head of the Telagah village command post, Mr Teguh Kurniawan, said the BPBD had set up the romance chambers to allow married couples to carry on with their sex lives while they are in the crowded shelter.

"The romance chambers are explicitly for married couples. We never guard them but simply monitor them from the command post."

He claimed that many evacuees have been using the tents.

Sinabung Disaster Mitigation Media Centre head Jhonson Tarigan said nearly all the evacuation shelters now have the chambers.

Mount Sinabung has been erupting for five months, forcing about 32,000 people to evacuate to 42 shelters. A recent eruption killed 16 people and seriously injured one.

Mr Teguh said all the evacuees' needs were being met at the shelter, including schooling for children.

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