Angry residents block turnpike over mud flood
Monday, June 12, 2006
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Hundreds of angry residents of Siring village in East Java blocked the Surabaya-Gempol toll road Sunday to display their unhappiness with hot mud flowing from a PT Lapindo Brantas gas exploration well.
Protesters in the village in Sidoarjo regency blocked the road by directing the stream of mud onto it.
The residents's anger was sparked by the discovery that a nearby drainage system was unable to accommodate the increasing quantities of mud. Over the last three weeks, the hot mud has inundated 25 hectares of land, including rice fields, factory compounds and residential sites.
"If the mud is not directed into the toll road, it will further flood our residential areas, thereby further damaging our lives," said Kusnadi, one of the residents.
The villagers' anger got an unsympathetic response from police officers, who ordered them to leave the problem to authorities.
A scuffle broke out between residents and police. The villagers also lambasted Sidoarjo Regent Win Hendrarso, who was at the site.
The mud leak started on May 29, two days after a powerful earthquake struck Yogyakarta and surrounding areas.
The hot mud flow was initially small and was not considered dangerous. The output of mud grew, however, until about 5,000 cubic meters leaked from the well each day.
"Frankly, the Sidoarjo regental administration is not able to handle the problem due to difficulties in getting heavy machinery to curb it. The central government will have to lend a hand as soon as possible," Win said.
Meanwhile, a number of House members accompanied by executives of BP Migas and PT Lapindo went to the site on Sunday to view the latest conditions. The visit did not appear to result in a clear-cut solution, however, as the legislators seemed unprepared for what they saw. "We still have to coordinate and consolidate to see what we can do," said Dito Ganindito, one of the House members.
Dody Hidayat of BP Migas' operational division and Imam Agustin of PT Lapindo did not offer any solutions either. "We are still searching for what is causing the mud flow and how to resolve it," Dody said.
A group of experts from the United States and Singapore is scheduled to visit the location soon to help settle the problem.
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Wild mud flows leave hundreds hurt, homeless
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Sidoarjo
More than 130 people are in hospital and hundreds more have fled their villages as millions of liters of thick, toxic mud continue to leak from a gas exploration well in East Java's Porong district.
The pollution from the well drilled by oil and gas firm PT Lapindo Brantas has forced the evacuation three nearby villages.
Villagers said the mud flows, which began on May 29, continued to intensify daily, and had already flooded about 25 hectares of land, including villages, rice paddies and an industrial complex. The mud has also forced the closure of the Surabaya-Gempol turnpike.
On Monday, around 200 residents from the three worst-affected villages of Jatirejo, Siring and Reno, took shelter in the Pasar Baru evacuation center. Others camped in school buildings, administration offices and local mosques.
"All residents from my neighborhood community unit have been forced to move away, although our residential site was not affected yesterday," Quamairotin, 23, a resident of Siring where the exploration well is located, said.
Many residents have become ill after inhaling sulfurous gasses produced by the mud and about 135 were in hospital, local officials said.
At the evacuation center, most villagers lay on simple mats. The Sidoarjo regency also provided them with a mobile community health unit.
Quanmairotin feared the evacuations would disrupt school examinations scheduled in the area Tuesday.
The mud flows also forced seven factories employing thousands of workers in the area to temporarily shut down.
"Since the mud began flowing from the drilling site, we have been forced to postpone deliveries of our furniture products. Many of our customers have complained about the delays," Dwi Cahyani, the director of rattan furniture company PT Victory Rattanindo, said Monday.
The firm, which employs 200 workers, exports most of its products to Britain.
PT Lapindo has not explained the cause of the mud. Company management have promised to invite geological experts from Canada and Singapore to study the problem.
Meanwhile a local geologist said the pollution was caused by a failure in the drilling operation, exacerbated by the impact of the powerful Yogyakarta earthquake on May 27.
Another analyst said the overflow was caused by cracks in the well, which had not been anticipated by PT Lapindo.
Speaking at a hearing with members of the East Java Legislative Council on Monday, PT Lapindo general manager Imam Agustino said the company would try to prevent the mud from inundating a wider area by drilling two new wells near the old one to accommodate the liquid.
"The construction of the new wells is only temporary, with the aim of containing the mud and stopping it from flowing to the surface. We made this decision after consulting the Alert Disaster Control & Able Engineering Well Control (agency) of Texas," he said.
The government has said the company must compensate people and businesses affected the ecological disaster.
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Sidoarjo mud protested by upset workers
Saturday, June 17, 2006
ID Nugroho and Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Sidoarjo
Residents of the once-peaceful East Java town of Sidoarjo are becoming increasingly agitated about the ongoing flow of hot mud from a gas drilling well.
On Friday, some 200 workers from a nearby factory whose operation has been affected by the mudflow staged a protest outside the office of PT Lapindo Brantas Inc., the company that owns the well. They demanded compensation for lost wages.
Arriving on three trucks and dozens of motorcycles, the workers from snack producer CV. Inti Sari Pratama waved banners and posters with their demands all the way to Lapindo's office.
One of the workers, Mustafa Aji, said they were forced to protest because their future is uncertain. "Since the factory was closed two weeks ago, we haven't been getting paid. This is all because of Lapindo," he told The Jakarta Post.
The mudflow has affected at least 13 factories since it began late last month. It has also flooded hectares of paddy fields and inundated villagers' houses.
Mustafa said each worker usually receives Rp 20,000 (US$2) a day. "Who is going to pay us compensation? Our company is not willing to pay because the factory is closed," he said.
Lapindo's representatives, accompanied by officials from the Oil and Gas Executive Agency (BP Migas), met with 10 representatives of the protesting workers. They told the workers they would discuss the compensation with the factory's management. "They promised to resolve the matter next week," said Muhamad Hadi, one of the workers' representatives.
Lapindo's spokesman, Budi Santoso, said the company would try to find a mutually beneficial solution.
"We (Lapindo) also feel sorry for the workers. I'm just asking the workers to help deal with the mudflow problem. Many workers working on the mudflow feel afraid, threatened," said Budi, without elaborating.
The mudflow has also triggered a clash between residents from Balung Kenongo and Kedung Bendo villages. Residents from one village damaged a dam to block the mudflow, but the move caused the mud to stream into the other village. No casualties were reported in the incident. Police are now guarding the two villages.
Almost three weeks after the hot mudflow was first spotted, no detailed plan to resolve the problem has been announced.
"We can't predict the mud rushing out... all we can do is prevent it from spreading," Lapindo's safety, health and environment official, Agus Tanzil, told the Post Friday.
"No matter what experts say, the mudflow is happening because of a natural process and can't be mathematically predicted."
The company has constructed three ponds to accommodate around 480,000 cubic meters of mudflow. With an estimated 20,000 cubic meters of mud streaming out per day, the ponds would fill up in 24 days. The company has also transported mud to be dumped at a location approved by the local administration.
"Our target is to solve the mudflow problem in a month. We hope everyone will stay calm and not make any conflicting statements that can confuse people," Lapindo's general manager Imam Agustino said.
In Jakarta, the National Police spokesman, Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam, said Friday that mining and geological experts from Australia and Canada will assist Indonesian authorities in investigating the cause of the hot mud eruption.
He said the police assigned a special task force to Sidoarjo on Thursday to investigate the case.(04)
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More mudflow victims suffer from breathing difficulties
Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Sidoarjo
Medical workers report a jump in the number of villagers with respiratory problems near the gas well accident in Porong district, East Java, with the authorities still puzzled about stemming the uncontrolled toxic mudflow.
A total of 901 ailing villagers from Siring, Renokenongo and Jatirejo near Sidoarjo were treated Monday, up from 538 reported last week.
The head of the environment research center at Surabaya-based Airlangga University, Mukono, said the increase was due to the inhalation of poisonous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas from the mudflow. The gas gives off a putrid rotten-egg odor.
"Besides the H2S, the hot mud from the well also carries hydrocarbon gas, which if inhaled continuously could cause leukemia," he said.
Many residents also complain of other ailments, including fatigue, gastritis, diarrhea and hypertension, he added.
The coordinator of the hospitals in charge of handling mudflow victims, Hinu Tri Sulistyorini, feared the number of people left ill by the May 29 accident could be much higher.
Many villagers whose homes were inundated by the toxic mud have not sought medical help because they were afraid of leaving their belongings, Hinu added.
"Patients admitted here said many of their neighbors had not had their health checked."
A member of the House of Representatives urged the government Monday to establish an independent team to study the impact of the accident.
"We urgently need an independent team to investigate the real cause of the mudflow and create a solution on how to stop this catastrophe," said Sonny Keraf, a lawmaker from Commission VII whose jurisdiction includes energy, mining and the environment.
In a public forum on the incident, Sonny alleged the possibility of a "conspiracy" between the government, the oil and gas executive agency (BP Migas) and PT Lapindo Brantas, the owner of the gas drilling well, to cover up the actual details of the accident.
"BP Migas is not the right institution to head the independent team because there could be conflict of interest, and I don't think they could solve the problem."
He said the House would also establish a body to monitor the independent team.
"The party responsible, PT Lapindo Brantas, has not taken any honorable action because it put the blame on the Yogyakarta quake for causing the mudflow."
Chalid Muhammad of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) said a lack of transparency, such as how to manage waste caused by the exploitation and exploration, created greater losses to the public and the environment.
"The source of the mud should be closed as soon as possible. Compensation to nearby communities should be provided and the individuals responsible should go through the legal process," he said.
"Lapindo stated that the Yogyakarta quake was the catalyst for the incident. However, scientists have found that a link between the natural disaster and the mudflow was almost impossible." (03)
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