R

esidents from affected villages in Sidoarjo, East Java, were hopeful that the government would honor its pledge to pay out the remaining financial compensation following the mudflow disaster.

The three villages are Besuki, Pajarakan and Kedungcangkring.

“We are confident about it, because it is conveyed by the vice president [Boediono] himself,” Sampun Hadi Prayitno, a Besuki resident, said.

The planned payoff was part the government’s policy to cope with the mudflow disaster that broke out five years ago.

The government, it was reported, would pay the first 5 percent of the unpaid 30 percent in compensation this year, and pay the remaining 25 percent between January and February next year.

With the decision, residents in Besuki, Pajarakan and Kedungcangkring villages agreed to immediately open their blockade and allow Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS) to build a diversion to channel mud and water from retaining pools into the Porong River.

Zainuddin, spokesman for nine neighboring units in Mindi village which were eventually included in the map of affected areas, expressed his relief.

According to Zainuddin, residents will immediately conduct data collection so that initial payments can be disbursed by the end of the year, while the rest could be paid next year.

The government has set compensation levels at Rp 1 million per square meter of land and Rp 1.5 million (US$114) per square meter of building.

A total of 12 villages located in the three districts of Tanggulangin, Jabon and Porong were engulfed by the mud. As much as 641 hectares, 273 of which were farmland, have been affected.

The disaster has also displaced 39, 947 people from 20,248 families.

Talking to journalists at Juanda Airport following his 30-minute tour of the disaster scene in Porong district, Vice President Boediono outlined four important steps expected to resolve the issue.

Boediono said the government would first seek approval from the House of Representatives to pay out the remaining 30 percent of financial compensation to the victims living in the three affected villages.

The government also planned to compensate residents living in nine neighborhood units in Mindi village affected by the mudflow, whereby President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would sign the revised Presidential Regulation No. 40/2008 on Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency as a legal umbrella.

“Everything is expected to be completed by 2012,” said Boediono.

As a second step, the government planned to divert mud to the Porong River so as to channel mud and
water in anticipation of the rainy season.

The diversion will cross the three villages.