LBH slams govt, Lapindo for sloppy response

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya, Fri, 01/02/2009 10:28 AM, East Java

Surabaya Legal Aid Institute (LBH) has urged the Indonesian public to pressure the government and PT Lapindo Brantas Inc. energy company to seek an immediate resolution to unresolved Sidoarjo mudflow issues.

On Wednesday in an evaluation of the 2008 law and human rights issues, LBH Surabaya land and environment division head Faiq Assidiqi said both the government and Lapindo (owned by the Bakrie family) had failed to show strong political commitment to resolving the social aspects of the disaster, which had affected the livelihoods of thousands of Porong residents and had caused massive environmental damage.

The mudflow, caused by Lapindo's mining activities in May, 2006, had displaced dozens of families whose assets were destroyed and had also destroyed their sources of income. It had done irreparable damage to the environment and had destroyed dozens of factories where local residents were once employed.

Despite these impacts, however, the government and Lapindo had acted less than satisfactorily and had yet to provide comprehensive solutions to the issue, he said.

"It is apparently not enough for mudflow victims to stage protests at the disaster site, but the entire society should join forces to make the government and the energy company provide legal advocacy for the victims."

Faiq insisted that the mudflow victims had lost not only their assets but also their cultural environment and their ability to earn a living. Their children had been denied access to education and a healthy environment, he said.

LBH, which has provided legal advocacy for Lapindo victims since the time of the disaster, was disappointed with the government's handling of the issue and Lapindo's failure to provide compensation to victims, he said.

Faiq cited Presidential Instruction No. 14/2007 requiring Lapindo pay compensation to residents of four villages in the area, and a new instruction requiring the government pay compensation from the 2008 state budget to victims outside the disaster area, claiming both were unapplicable.

Minarak Lapindo Jaya, a subsidiary of Lapindo, has paid 20 percent of the agreed compensation amount to a large proportion of the victims, while a smaller group do not have required documentation of their damaged assets and have yet to receive anything.

"The deadline for the payment of the remaining 80 percent compensation passed last August -- it was suspended because of the global crisis," Faiq said.

Since the disaster, hundreds of victims have been living in temporary shelters in the Porong market building, stranded, and dozens of others have erected tents at the gateway to the Nirwana village housing compound (earmarked for the victims), but most had yet to receive housing as construction had been suspended because of the economic downturn, he said.

Previously, the National Human Rights Commission recommended the government relocate affected villagers by providing each with 500 square meters of land plus Rp 10 million in cash.

Faiq questioned police investigations into the mudflow disaster, saying that so far two Lapindo executives had been named suspect, but police had yet to report any progress in the case.

Faiq also questioned the resolution of the Alas Tlogo incident which claimed four human lives in Pasuruan in 2007, saying that so far only marines involved in the shooting had been brought to justice, but no compensation had been paid.