Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – PT Lapindo Brantas, a mining company partly owned by Bakrie Holding Group which has been blamed for the mudflow in East Java's Sidoarjo region, on Wednesday renewed its commitment to resolving the social, legal and environmental impacts caused by the disaster.
"Lapindo will accept any decisions the government and the court make regarding the mudflow and will take responsibility for its social, legal and environmental impacts," Chairman of Lapindo's task force Iman Agustino told a hearing with the House's special committee tasked to supervise the handling of the mudflow issue.
He said since the hot mud started leaking from the mine site in Sidoarjo in May last year, the management had spent a total of Rp 2.43 trillion (US$258.4 million) out of Rp 3.5 trillion allocated to handle the mudflow problem and its impacts.
The South Jakarta District court rejected Tuesday a lawsuit filed by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation against the President and Lapindo over human rights abuse allegations in connection to the mudflow disaster.
Azis Syamsuddin of the Golkar Party lauded Lapindo's commitment to settling the mudflow issue and called on all parties to comply with the court's verdict. "We should give Lapindo the thumbs-up, not only for its commitment, but for all measures taken to minimize the impacts of the mudflow," he said.
In addition to paying a down payment of 20 percent, or Rp 583 billion, of the total compensation for residents, the management had also allotted a settlement area for the affected residents in Sukodono, Waru, near the provincial capital of Surabaya, he added.
"The 20-percent down payment of the total compensation amount will be finalized in December, while the remaining 80 percent, or Rp 2.3 trillion, will be paid in May 2009. The affected residents are expected to voluntarily relocate themselves to the new settlement area," Iman said.
Lapindo is cooperating with PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya (MLJ) in handling the mudflow's social impacts, under the supervision of the government-appointed Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS).
BPLS chairman Sunarso said the agency had verified more than 10,700 compensation recipients, while hundreds of others had rejected the relocation and acquisition schemes offered by Lapindo. "More than 823 families have yet to submit their claims... they are either demanding a higher compensation amount or just want to rent their land," he said.
Citing Presidential regulation No. 14/2007, the chairman of the House's supervisory committee, Tjahyo Kumolo, said Lapindo was not the only party responsible for the mudflow, but also the government and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency (BP Migas).
"So far, both the government and BP Migas have done nothing to stop the leakage and handle the impacts of the mudflow. The government should be at the forefront in handling the social impacts," Tjahyo said in the meeting.
The committee asked the government to declare the status of the mudflow – whether it was an accident or a disaster – to help pave the way to better handling the issue. "If the mudflow is declared a disaster, the government should then allocate special funds from the state budget to handle the disaster," he said.
Separately, Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Purnomo Yusgantoro said it was difficult for the government to declare the mudflow a disaster prior to a court decision on the issue.
"It is quite a dilemma for the government because if the government declared it a disaster, that would imply Lapindo is not at fault and the government would be obliged to reimburse the company for the funds it has already dispersed. But if the company is found to be guilty, the government would not have to allocate funds from the state budget to handle the mudflow problem," he said.