A gas well near Surabaya in East Java operated by Lapindo Brantas Inc. has spewed steaming mud since May, submerging villages, industries and agricultural land.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared the area a disaster zone after the "mud volcano" inundated more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of land in Sidoarjo district and displaced some 13,000 people.

"As I speak, we have not gotten to the stage that we can stop the flow, so what is assigned to my ministry is to try to prevent further destruction...," Witoelar told a Jakarta Foreign Correspondents' Club lunch.

"At this moment, if I'm not mistaken, it's close to 200,000 cubic metres a day, it's beyond any pumps or dykes to be contained," he said of the mud flow.

"It could take years," before it stops, said, adding the victims had to be compensated soon.

"Actually no one can say how long it will last, but we can relieve them from suffering by making efforts for them to start new lives, which is now being done," he said.

"I hope that it will come to an end. I personally think that those people who demand this compensation should be given compensation, whatever the cost."

Lapindo and the government were "in a moral position to compensate for the grief that has been exerted upon them," he said.

Witoelar said he had recommended that the victims be compensated swiftly.

"Give the best solution, negotiate as fast as possible. Let us not deal, haggle with people who are suffering, because it is not a commercial venture so we should have more empathy," the minister said.

Aside from those displaced, 13 people died after an explosion last month when an underground gas pipeline burst following subsidence blamed on the mud leaking.

Witoelar said there were plans to create an estuary wetland from the inundated area, but admitted that was "easier said than done".

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.