Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Hundreds of people recently made homeless by hot mudflows camped on Sidoarjo's main turnpike Saturday as the regency gave the go-ahead for the disaster relief team to dump untreated water from the disaster into the Porong River.
The administration made the controversial decision after it received approval from regional councillors and residents from the affected Besuki village late Friday.
State Minister of Environment Rachmat Witoelar earlier forbid the company at the center of the disaster, Lapindo Brantas Inc., from dumping untreated effluent into the waterway because it would only spread the disaster.
Sidoarjo Regent Win Hendrarso said the emergency decision to dump the water was made after two more containment ponds burst Friday, flooding three more villages and raising the number of people displaced by the disaster to more than 10,000.
Letting water out of the containment ponds would ensure that more residential areas were not affected, Win said.
"I'll inform the state minister for the environment (Rachmat Witoelar) of the decision. Even if the minister still disagrees, or environment activists file a lawsuit, I'll still dump the water from the mudflows into the river. All the residents support the decision," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Before Win's announcement workers for Lapindo, which is owned by the family of the Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, had already begun piping untreated water into the river.
Company general manager Imam Agustino and vice president Yuniwati Teryana earlier said a disaster relief team at the site had made a unilateral decision to dump the waste without informing the company. That team included Lapindo employees.
The oil and gas company says the untreated water will not harm the environment, after the water tested neutral at Surabaya 10 November Technology Institute. An earlier study of the mud published in a government magazine however said the watery waste contained a number of harmful chemicals.
The director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) East Java, Ridlo Saiful, condemned the move and threatened to sue the regency and the company. The untreated water contained dangerous substances and had already killed many fish in the river and community ponds, he said.
While visiting the mudflow site Thursday, House of Representatives legislator Khofifah Indar Parawangsa said the government and Lapindo should guarantee that the untreated water was environmentally safe.
"They shouldn't dump the water into the river just to satisfy political interests," Khofifah said. "The (handling of the) mudflow case is hard to separate from the interests of Aburizal Bakrie and several political parties," she told the Post.
Lapindo has been accused of gross negligence leading to the disaster and its management have been the subject of a criminal investigation. However, the government has chosen to work with Lapindo to handle the disaster and has not yet prosecuted it under the country's environmental laws.
Khofifah said the House planned to summon representatives from the national disaster team for questioning.
Meanwhile, hundreds of homeless residents from the Mindi, Pejarakan and Besuki villages continued to camp out in tents and makeshift shelters on the Suraybaya-Gempol turnpike Saturday, blocking the traffic.
The villagers have refused to join other displaced people in the Porong market, which will emptied before Ramadhan starts at the end of the month.
A villager said most were in favor of dumping the waste into the river if it would save their homes. "Pak Regent, don't listen to activists or the media, which are against the move. Just save us," he said.