The Lapindo disaster is still very much on Maksum Zuber's mind.

So much so, that to express his discontent with Lapindo Brantas Inc., the company deemed responsible for the ongoing gush of hot mud in the region of Sidoarjo, East Java, which started in May 2006, Zuber - the principal of Abil Hasan As Syadzily Islamic Boarding School in Jatirejo village, Sidoarjo - wrote a book titled Titanic Made by Lapindo.

After the disaster, the pesantren, the boarding school he runs, lost much of its vitality, as it was forced to move from Jatirejo to a leased house in Krembung village, Sidoarjo.

"Around 700 pupils used to study there, but we lost about 20 percent of them *after the mud flow disaster*. I have no idea how this school will grow in the future as the lease is expiring in a few months and I do not have the funds to extend it," he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Maksum 44, commonly called Gus Maksum, comes across as a pluralist and open Muslim figure. Apart from delving into the Koran and religious literature, he also owns over a thousand non-religious books written by local and foreign authors.

When villagers noticed mud spurting from Lapindo's abandoned gas well, they were filled with dread, worried they would be flooded soon, Maksum went on. And sure enough, on August 19, 2006, the hot sludge started submerging all nearby settlements and paddy fields, sending locals scurrying around to salvage their property.

"The mud was moving very fast. I could hear people screaming, trying to save their belongings," recalled Maksum.

Amid the commotion caused by the mudflow, Maksum made a call for prayer at the school's mosque: "Oh, Allah, everything is yours. Today you take what you've given. We are sincere. But we do believe and trust that this hardship shall open the door to contentment. Amen."

The pesantren first relocated to the refugee camp of Pasar Baru Porong, where hundreds of students had to share crowded bedrooms and bathrooms with many other victims of the mud flow. Several months later, the school moved again to other premises after receiving compensation from Lapindo Brantas Inc.

The uncertain future of the pesantren prompted many of its students who hail from Central and West Java to return home. This situation worsened when the school lost an important source of income, harvests from its paddy fields, following the mud inundating its paddy fields.

While studying in Jatirejo, the students of Abil Hasan As Syadzily, mostly from low-income families, looked after the fields to meet their boarding needs and support the school's operations.

"Although we cannot harvest any more crops, we forbid our students from seeking contributions elsewhere. I have asked them to deepen their religious knowledge instead," Gus Maksum said, who takes a keen interest in science, and believes it is also important for his students to have a well-rounded education.

It's not easy to find a new building for lease. House owners increased rental prices, upon hearing media reports that mudflow victims had become wealthy after receiving compensation from Lapindo.

"With the media reporting Lapindo Bantas' distribution of compensation, the public now believes Lapindo has paid mudflow victims more than their land was worth," he pointed out.

Not all mudflow victims, including Maksum, are willing to accept Lapindo's compensation. They are still holding on to their land despite not being able to find its exact location - as a result of the mudflow.

Several victims have even have put up notices stating: "This house has not been sold to Lapindo."

"I've inherited the land from my ancestors so I won't give it up to Lapindo, even if I get a far higher price than the compensation my peers received," said Maksum.

Lapindo Brantas Inc. is an oil and gas exploration firm owned by the Aburizal Bakrie family.

Some experts believe a drilling error caused the hot mud to gush out of the Banjarpanji-1 well in Porong Sidoarjo on May 29, 2006. The hot mud covering tens of thousands of village homes and crop areas led to Lapindo eventually compensating victims, and also resulted in communal land changing ownership.

But the Supreme Court decided in April last year that Lapindo and the government were not guilty of any charges.

Maksum claimed not all the people in his village were aware of Lapindo Brantas Inc.'s well drilling activities. They only realized Lapindo Brantas' activities when another gush of hot mud emerged.

"I've often heard about land-use license manipulation for drilling exploration. A scheme was also rumored to involve Lapindo and the regional administration, including the village head," he indicated.

Because Maksum and a number of mudflow victims refused to be compensated, they are not allowed to live in Kahuripan Nirwana Village, a housing complex that belongs to the Bakrie Group, or in the other relocation areas.

"The mud victims can't do anything as they are stuck in poverty, having lost their jobs and homes. Though I've asked most of them not to sell their land, they have had no choice but to sell it to sustain their existence," he said.

"Gus Dur said that in the next 10 years, Porong would be prosperous because behind the gushing hot mud was an invaluable hidden treasure," revealed Maksum, an alumnus of Tebuireng, the pesantren where Gus Dur was buried.

As a manager and instructor of the boarding school, Gus Maksum was also close to (the late) Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and served as deputy chairman of the Advisory Council of Sidoarjo's Regional Board of the National Awakening Party (PKB).

Maksum wrote about his experience and struggle during the hot mud flooding while teaching and leading prayer sessions. Some of his stories are compiled into his book, Titanic Made by Lapindo, published by Lafadl Pustaka and The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.

"I decided to write this book to show I am opposed to what is going on here. Titanic Made by Lapindo also describes the presence of hidden treasures behind the surge of hot mud, which have so not been discovered," he added.

In Maksum's book, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia Von Hernandez comments: "The Lapindo disaster stands among the worst examples of corporate crimes the world has ever witnessed in recent times. The continuing hardship of victim communities struggling amid wretched environmental conditions serves as a powerful reminder of the folly of corporate greed and the disturbing lack of political means to hold responsible companies fully accountable for their misadventures."

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