Lawmakers split over mudflow disaster

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 02/19/2008 11:40 AM  |  National

A number of House of Representatives of East Java origin questioned Monday the legitimacy of a special House team which concluded that the unabated mudflow in Sidoarjo was a natural phenomenon.

Djoko Susilo of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said the legislators representing East Java, and particularly Sidoarjo constituents, would oppose during a plenary session Tuesday the team's findings, which he said were "not comprehensive" but instead "protective of" PT Lapindo Brantas, the company linked to the mudflow.

"The team has ignored the role of human error in the disaster, despite the fact that the mudflow was triggered by drilling activities," Djoko said. Citing findings of a number of geologists who discovered the mudflow was the result of human error, Djoko said the House team's conclusion was debatable.

He added he and other lawmakers who were concerned about the mudflow would interrupt the plenary and might go as far as petitioning an exercise of the House's right to inquire into the cause of the disaster, which arose late in May 2006.

Djoko said the team's findings came as no surprise because out of 29 members less than one third were from East Java, including four from Sidoarjo.

"That's why the team has no empathy for the suffering of Sidoarjo people. How come non-East Javanese dominate and lead the team?" asked Djoko.

He said he and several other lawmakers representing Sidoarjo had been left out when members for the team were selected. "I didn't even know the team was formed," he said.

The Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) has said the mudflow, which has displaced thousands of families, is a natural disaster. Despite declaring the mudflow a natural disaster, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered Lapindo, partly owned by the family of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie to pay Rp 3.8 trillion in compensation and costs caused by the "mud volcano".

Separately, the Indonesian Forum of Environment (Walhi) said the House team had overstepped its authority and capacity in concluding that human error was not involved in the mudflow.

The non-governmental organization regretted the fact that the team had consulted only experts who supported the theory that the causes of the mudflow were wholly natural while ignoring those with dissenting opinions.

"We call on the House to refrain from making a political decision that hurts the public's sense of justice and further degrades the public trust in the legislative body," Walhi coordinator Chalid Muhammad said Monday.

Chalid urged the House to make sure that Lapindo pay compensation to all displaced by the mudflow and issue a political decision to prompt measures to put an end to the gushing hot mud in Sidoarjo at the expense of Lapindo.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.