The government decided Wednesday to earmark Rp 700 billion from the state budget to compensate victims in three further villages affected by the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java.
The decision has sparked a mixed reaction from lawmakers.
Outspoken legislator Permadi said the government was "pampering" to Lapindo Brantas Inc., a mining company linked to the family of chief welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie, and allegedly responsible for the disaster.
"Paying compensation from the state budget means that eventually the society pays for the Lapindo victims," he said.
Permadi, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said Lapindo should take responsibility for the impact the mudflow has made, including compensation for victims, as stipulated in the 2007 presidential decree.
But legislator Abdullah Aswar Anas, said he did not mind whether compensation funds were derived from the state or from Lapindo.
"The most important thing is the people from the three villages are compensated as soon as possible," he said.
The three villages -- Besuki, Kedungcangkring and Pejarakan -- were not included in the presidential decree on boundaries of areas and victims affected by the devastating sludge.
The pledged compensation was in response to persistent protests by residents from these villages.
The government said it would also acquire residential land in an effort to make it easier to channel the mudflow from the nearby dam to the Porong river.
The decision was taken during a limited meeting at the State Palace, which was presided over by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
In attendance were several Cabinet ministers, East Java senior officials and the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Body (BPLS) head.
"The government has decided to use funds from the state budget because we are concerned about the condition of the residents," Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto told a media conference after the meeting.
"Besides, we need to accelerate the channeling of the mud, which we believe can be completed by building more channels in the three villages.
"By doing so, the mud will recede and people there would not be threatened anymore," he said.
The minister said the government would start disbursing compensation within the next three to four months.
In the first phase, it would pay some Rp 170 billion, he said.
Djoko said the villages are located between the dam and the Porong river, which he said had made it difficult for the government to channel the mud to the river.
As for the issue of compensation, Djoko said the government would use a similar scheme as applied to the people whose areas were included in the presidential decree.
Under the scheme, residents received compensation from Lapindo through two phases of the installment.
The first phase saw them receive 20 percent of the total amount of compensation, while the remaining 80 percent should be disbursed in phase two.
Djoko said President Yudhoyono ordered the mudflow mitigation body and East Java administrations to draw up concrete plans to follow up this decision.
BPLS head Soenarso said there were some 2,926 families living in the three villages.
He said the body would conduct further monitoring to see if there were more villages also affected by the mudflow. (ewd)
