President Reminds Lapindo of Compensation for Sidoarjo Disaster

Surabaya, East Java (Antara) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has reminded PT Lapindo Brantas of compensation that has to be settled with the victim of gas mud in Sidoarjo, East Java. The Constitutional Court recently ruled that Lapindo, not the state, is responsible for paying the compensation for the victims of the disaster several years earlier, Yudhoyono said. "I have sent a letter to Lapindo asking the company to settle the remaining obligation to the gas mud victims in Sidoarjo," he said here Saturday night. The state is responsible only to use its authority to force Lapindo to fully pay the compensation, the president said. The company, which was a subsidiary of the Bakrie Brothers Group, owned by Golkar Party chairman and presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie, already paid part of the compensation. Gas mud has forced many villagers in Sidoarjo to flee their villages which were later buried under the flood of mud from Lapindo gas wells. The mud flood also destroyed factories , farmlands and roads. Yudhoyono said Lapindo Brantas has yet to repay a remaining Rp700 billion in compensation to the displaced people and around Rp600 billion in compensation for commercial losses. He said the state was responsible for indirect losses outside the disaster area and for that purpose the government has set aside Rp1.3 trillion from the state budget. "As the head of the state I have asked Lapindo to immediately settle its obligation . Otherwise the state is forced to bring the case to court," he said. Yudhoyono took the occasion to speak about Indonesian housemaid Satinah, who was punished with a death sentence for murdering her employer in Saudi Arabia. There were still hurdles that put at risk efforts to save Satinah from the punishment of decapitation, he said. An agreement had been almost reached under which the government would pay Rp20 billion in compensation, but the family of the murdered man was offended by reports in the country, he said. The compensation demand has caused public outrage in the country, with reports accusing family, which originally demanded a compensation of Rp21 billion of being greedy. Some reports said the government had no obligation to pay any compensation and that the demand for compensation was an extortion. "Therefore, I have to send a letter to the family asking them to forgive Satinah," Yudhoyono said. (*)