http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/article/11879.html
March 4, 2009 Amir Tejo Sidoarjo Mud Victims Plan Protest to Press for Payments See Also: Lapindo Pays Mud Victims Inquiry Into Mudflow Rights Violations Victims of the Sidoarjo mudflow in East Java Province are expected to arrive in Jakarta next week to press the government to settle compensation owed to them by PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, a representative said on Tuesday. Minarak Lapindo Jaya has been assigned by PT Lapindo Brantas - which has been blamed for the Sidoarjo mudflow- to pay out land compensation to thousands of displaced people. "The plan is to have around 1,000 people leave for Jakarta next Monday and camp out at the Proclamation Monument [in Central Jakarta] indefinitely," said Suwito, a mudflow victim and coordinator of the Movement to Support the Presidential Decree, referring to a 2007 decree ordering Lapindo to pay the initial 20 percent of the value of victims' lost property immediately and the remainder by May last year. "The spirit of the Lapindo mud victims is strong to come back to Jakarta and to ask for their problems to be settled," he said. Hot, toxic mud began to flow from an earth fissure close to an gas exploration drilling well operated by PT Lapindo Brantas on May 29, 2006. The company, owned by the family of Aburizal Bakrie, the government's chief welfare minister, has been blamed by experts for the disaster, which has left thousands homeless. Lapindo's subsidiary, Minarak Lapindo Jaya, was appointed to handle the compensation claims process, though it has repeatedly failed to meet its financial obligations. The victims also plan to send four representatives to Jakarta to hand over letters to National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono detailing Minarak Lapindo Jaya's failures to meet its obligations. The representatives are scheduled to leave for Jakarta today. Suwito said 20 mudflow victims had compiled a 100-page report detailing breaches of agreements by Minarak Lapindo Jaya, including information about submerged lots owned by 18 Renokenongo villagers and Pasar Baru Porong refugees that Minarak refused to verify for compensation. Minarak Lapindo Jaya said on Monday that it had transferred the first installment of Rp 15 million ($1,245) to each of 6,006 victims' bank accounts. Andi Darussalam, the company's vice president, claimed that they had transferred Rp 100 billion to a government bank account to be paid out to the victims. Minarak Lapindo Jaya agreed to pay Rp 30 million in monthly installments to more than 6,000 family victims in a meeting facilitated by Yudhoyono in December, but in February, the company said it was only capable of paying the victims in monthly installments of Rp 15 million per family, citing financial difficulties. Photo: A local resident rafts across Renokenongo, one of the villages buried by the mudflow. (Eric Ireng, Antara)
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