Mudflow victims thank Bakrie for "prosperity, joy"

A group of people claiming to represent the majority of Sidoarjo mudflow victims expressed Sunday their “sincere gratitude” to the family of chief welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie, deemed responsible by many for the unceasing flow of mud that has swamped whole villages in East Java since 2006.

The group, claiming to represent 12,000 mudflow victims, said what the Bakries had done for them during the past three years had now brought them “joy and prosperity”.

Khairul Huda, among the group’s spokespeople, said in a press conference here Sunday that their gratitude to the Bakries had nothing to do with Aburizal’s bid to be chairman of the Golkar Party.

“We have no ulterior motives. We come here today to invite Pak Aburizal Bakrie to come to a thanksgiving event we will hold on Sept. 9,” Khairul said after a meeting between the group and Aburizal.

“We want to hold the event as an expression of gratitude to God for the prosperity and pleasure we’ve now begun to enjoy since the mudflow started to erupt three years ago.

“We want the Bakrie family to see what they’ve done for us… They’ve done very noble things.”

Aburizal said in the same press conference that his family had nothing to do with the event that the mudflow victims had planned for them.

He added, however, that the condition of Sidoarjo mudflow victims had been recently manipulated by a Golkar rival – though he mentioned no names – as a smear campaign against him.