Victims Commemorate 8th Anniversary of Lapindo Mudflow Disaster

Sidoarjo, East Java (Antara) - The victims of mudflow in Porong in the East Java district of Sidoarjo commemorated the 8th anniversary of the mud eruption disaster here on Thursday. Until now, compensation has been given for around 10,000 land documents by Minarak Lapindo Jaya as the paying agency for Lapindo Brantas Inc. that had been conducting oil and gas drilling on the land that led to the disaster, stated Khoirul Huda, the spokesperson of the Association of Mudflow Victims. "The rest totaling three thousand are still being processed now, and we hope this can be finished immediately," he added. Huda noted that the government should immediately act to help Minarak Lapindo Jaya to settle the payment of compensation for those victims who have not yet received it. "In 2009, Minarak was able to get a loan of Rp1.2 trillion from PT Bumi Resources Investment (BRI), but why is it not able to do it now," he pointed out. Huda remarked that the government should have overseen the compensation process, so that the payment problem could be settled immediately. "Moreover, now after the Constitutional Court has issued a rule, the government can help Minarak Lapindo Jaya in connection with the payment problem," he stated. Supari, another victim, said that now is the right time to settle the problem. "We need an immediate settlement of the payment as we are tired of waiting for the past eight years," she stressed. (*) Reporting by Indra Setiawan