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Victims slam govt over Indonesia's mud volcano
Jakarta (AFP) May 29, 2009 Victims and activists Friday marked the third anniversary of the eruption of a deadly mud volcano in Indonesia with calls for justice and full compensation. There was no comment, however, from the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is comfortably ahead of his rivals in the lead-up to elections in July. The mud has not stopped devouring land and homes in Sidoarjo district, East Java, since it began spewing from a gas drilling well on May 29, 2006. It has buried 12 villages, killed 13 people, displaced more than 42,000 people and wiped out 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of densely populated farming and industrial land. "I'm extremely upset and disappointed with the government, which doesn't seem to care about our suffering," mud victim Sunarto, 48, said. "We've waited too long for our money. The government should quickly settle this problem." Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati visited the disaster site and said the government has set aside only 1.1 trillion rupiah (110 million dollars) this year for rebuilding and mud-containment efforts in the area. "If there is an urgent need to change the budget... that will require the agreement of parliament," she was quoted as saying by the state-run Antara news agency. Independent foreign experts have concluded that gas exploration company Lapindo was almost certainly to blame for the disaster but no one has been prosecuted. Lapindo, which is connected to powerful Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie, says the eruption was triggered by a distant earthquake. It has nevertheless agreed to pay 3.8 trillion rupiah for compensation to over 10,000 families. But the victims complain that they have received only a small fraction of the promised money. Many of them remain unemployed and live in flimsy bamboo shacks near the mud lake. The supreme court last month threw out a petition against Lapindo and the government and cleared them of any wrongdoing. But activists said the government could not wash its hands of the issue. "We're disappointed with the government for not solving this case," said Luluk Uliyah, a spokesman for an umbrella group of activists who are planning to march through downtown Jakarta later Friday. "We want the government to charge Lapindo as guilty and force it to take responsibility." Spokesmen for Yudhoyono and Bakrie were not available for comment. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Court Clears Company And Indonesian Government Over Mud Volcano DisasterPorong, Indonesia (AFP) May 28, 2009 With no justice from her government, Indonesian villager Parti has her own plans for the company executives blamed for unleashing a mud volcano that buried her village three years ago. Throw them in the steaming, stinking sludge and let them burn, she says. "Let them burn to death so they can feel my suffering," said the 55-year-old mother of two, one of thousands of bitter victims who ... read more |
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