Sidoarjo survivors return home

Indra Harsaputra and Wahjoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Sidoarjo | Sat, 08/14/2010 10:37 AM | The Archipelago

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With no real solution or compensation in sight, some Sidoarjo mudflow victims have decided to go back to their villages in Porong, East Java.

Former Kedungbendo subdistrict head Hasan has returned to his home and started to cultivate a garden, which is covered with thick dried mud. He determined to breed ducks and cat fish.

“I decided to breed ducks and catfish since it will be difficult to plant rice on this infertile land,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Before the mudflow started in 2006, Hasan was also a property developer who was involved in the development of the Tanggulangin Sejahtera housing complex, which has been deserted since 2007 due to the disaster.

“Back then, I was successfully developing 500 units of houses,” he said.

“Now I just feed ducks and catfish. I could serve you a meal and drinks before. Now I can only serve you iced tea.”

Tanggulangin Sejahtera home owners have all received compensation, allowing them to move to new homes.

However, many Kedungbendo residents said that they have yet to receive compensation because they lacked land ownership certificates.

Hasan is currently trying to rebuild the subdistrict office and elevate the road as an evacuation access should there be damage in the mudflow area.

He said 50 families have decided to go back to their villages, despite the thick dried mud that has covered their homes.

None of the families have received any compensation, he said.

“I will ask others to come back to the village and not to sell their land to Lapindo Brantas Inc,” he said, referring to the company many allege was responsible for creating the disaster.

The mudflow, which the Supreme Court previously said could not be blamed on Lapindo, has displaced more than 40,000 Sidoarjo residents.

Researchers from the Surabaya-based 10 Nopember Institute of Technology warned the government to evacuate all survivors from areas affected by the mudflow, saying that the area was over capacity and there was a threat of land subsidence.

The Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS) said it would rehabilitate the area, following its collapse over the weekend.

East Java Governor Soekarwo continued to prepare Rp 273 billion (US$30.30 million) to develop an 83-hectare geological tourism site near Sidoarjo.

Another survivor, Zainul Arifin, said he and hundreds of others would continue staging rallies and demanding that the government and Lapindo address mudflow-related problems, including compensation.

“Due to the company’s financial problems, we’re okay with getting 80 percent compensation paid in installments of Rp 15 million a month. But now Lapindo has failed to meet its promises. It has stopped paying the installments for the last five months,” said Zainul at a rally at the Sidoarjo Legislative Council building this week.

Zainul said the government had yet to come up with a good solution, despite repeated statements of empathy.

“Some of us have lost homes and jobs. Late payments really influence their lives, especially ahead of Ramadan when food prices increase significantly,” said Zainul.