Jakarta – Hopes for achieving justice for victims of the devastating mudflow in Sidoarjo regency, East Java, are fading as controversy rages over whether the investigation into the case will continue.
"We expect that the investigation will continue, as requested by prosecutors," National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said Thursday on the sidelines of a hearing with House of Representatives Commission III on legal affairs and human rights.
After rumors that the police had halted the criminal investigation without giving reasons lawmakers accused the police of being not transparent.
Sutanto said the investigation was being handled by the East Java Police and that the National Police couldn't interfere.
However Commission III member Beni K. Harman said "The National Police have the ultimate authority to investigate the matter. But here we have the National Police chief saying he doesn't have the authority to interrupt the investigation in East Java. That's not acceptable."
Beni stressed that the investigation should be done in a transparent and accountable manner.
"The National Police should take over the investigation and expose their findings openly to the public," he said. Similar demands were made by other members of the commission and by Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) executive director Chalid Muhammad.
Chalid said compensation paid to the mudflow victims did not absolve Lapindo Brantas Inc. – partly owned by the family of chief welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie – of responsibility for the disaster.
"It is for this reason we suggested the National Police chief take over the case," he was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.
He said the National Police should use the full extent of their authority to confiscate original documents as evidence, including real-time charts and geolographs.
The company at the heart of the disaster that first struck on May 29 nearly two years ago, Lapindo Brantas Inc., made some compensation payments after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered a first phase of compensation at the end of 2007.
However, some people whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed refused the 20 percent compensation they were offered, contending it was hardly enough to start a new life.
At a court session Wednesday, investigators said they had information that, as drilling reached a certain depth, Lapindo failed to install casings, causing the mudflow.
Walhi said he believed that documents and other evidence indicated an error on the part of Lapindo.
Two suits filed by the leading environmental watchdog after the disaster were rejected in 2007 by the Central Jakarta District Court and South Jakarta District Court.
Beni said the police would risk their reputation by not being open about the case.
"And we also know that the company is owned by some really influential people," he said.
A 2007 report on public opinion prepared by the Corruption Eradication Commission, ranked the National Police 26 out of 30 institutions – almost at the bottom – on the basis of integrity. (lva)