Surabaya – Thousands of victims of the mudflow disaster in Porong district in Sidoarjo, East Java, rallied Monday to demand gas drilling company PT Lapindo Brantas increase its compensation for their losses.
Protests were held at three separate locations – the Sidoarjo regency administration office, the nearby Siring overpass and along the main road in Porong.
There was no immediate response to the protesters' demand from Lapindo, which operates the gas well at the center of the mudflow, the Sidoarjo regency administration or the national team in charge of dealing with the disaster.
Some 10,000 people have been displaced and entire villages inundated by the mud since a drilling accident in May, causing an unfolding environmental disaster in the Sidoarjo area, near Indonesia's second largest city of Surabaya.
In Porong, protesters blocked a main road with truckloads of sand.
"We are here to claim our rights as Indonesian citizens. A few days ago, we not only lost our houses but also our paddy fields and all the infrastructure because of Lapindo," Muhammad Kudori, a representative of the protesters, said after meeting local officials and the head of the operator of the gas well.
The Banjar Panji well at the center of the disaster is operated by Lapindo, a unit of PT Energi Mega Persada, partly owned by the Bakrie Group, which is controlled by the family of Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie.
The firm has denied the mudflow is directly linked to the drilling operation.
Lapindo has offered a monthly stipend of Rp 300,000 (US$32.86) to villagers who have lost their houses, as well as rent for new accommodation. It also has set aside Rp 6.9 billion to cover agricultural losses over the next few years, according to Reuters. Anger has been mounting in the area as hot mud continues to gush out of the ground at a rate of 50,000 cubic meters a day, despite several contingency plans to plug the leak.
Many of the protesters who gathered outside the Sidoarjo regent's office have lost their homes and fields in the past week because of the mudflow, which is also blamed for a gas pipeline explosion in the area last Wednesday that killed 11 people.
"I agree with your demand for compensation for houses and buildings," said Basuki Hadimulyo, the managing head of the national task force formed by the government to tackle the mudflow. "I will fight for your rights in Jakarta."
In the middle of negotiations, representatives of the victims walked out when the national team could not guarantee their demanded compensation.
The protesters blocked a road connecting Surabaya to northern cities in East Java with three truckloads of sand.
Several experts have said the mudflow could have been triggered by a crack about 6,000 feet deep inside the well.
[ID Nugroho contributed to this article from Surabaya.]