Jakarta – Two-and-a-half years after a volcano erupted in the East Java province of Sidoardjo, the mud shows no signs of abating.
One of Indonesia's worst disasters, the eruption on 29 May 2006 displaced more than 75,000 people and destroyed more than 10,000 homes, 35 schools, 31 factories, 65 mosques, a major toll-road and an orphanage.
Many families have lost their farms, while factory and construction workers have been forced to seek work as tour guides, showing people around the muddy plains and selling DVD footage of the ongoing disaster.
Most people have been paid about a fifth of the compensation promised to them as part of a 2007 Presidential Decree, following negotiations between the government and the company that was drilling for gas when the disaster happened.
The company, Lapindo Brantas, agreed to pay compensation to locals without accepting liability for the mudflow, which it said was caused by an earthquake 250km away and not a drilling accident. Many scientists and specialists and most afflicted disagree.
A recent settlement on the remaining compensation payments reached on 3 December has left the community divided. People from housing estates who lost their homes and are owed about 100 million rupiah each (US$9,000) are happy with the settlement as they will be paid in full by early next year.
Others, who co-own houses and land worth a lot more money, are concerned that they will be compensated over a seven-year period as Lapindo Brantas, which is facing debt problems, has agreed to payments of 30 million rupiah ($2,670) a month.
"In most cases, those houses are owned by several families and the compensation payments end up getting split six ways," a local activist, Winarko, told IRIN.
Some families travelled to Jakarta and covered themselves in mud to demonstrate against the agreement.
On 21 December, the government announced it was prepared to set aside RP82 billion ($7.5 million) from the 2009 budget to help four additional villages affected by the mudflow.
Winarko, who lives just 2km away from the centre of the mudflow and works with the Civil Alliance for Lapindo Victims, a coalition of NGO groups working to gain fair compensation, said 506 families were still living at a refugee camp in Porong market. They sleep in 6m x 4m tents and share 15 toilets, with deliveries of clean water and food having stopped months ago.
As many as 10,000 people have lived at the market place since the mudflow devastated the area. "It's amazing how these people survive without steady jobs," Winarko said.
"Now they work here and there, but before all of this, while they weren't rich, they were wealthy enough in their own way," he said. "It's hardest for the farmers. Even if they get the payment, it's not easy to move somewhere and buy a new rice paddy. Communities are very local."
For others, the mudflow has ironically provided an opportunity for better pay. Iyek used to earn RP750,000 rupiah ($67) a month at a beverage factory, which was buried in the mudflow. He now works as a guide for tourists, journalists and NGO representatives, ferrying them around the site on his motorbike, pointing out the latest gas leaks or small eruptions and selling DVDs for RP30,000 ($2.70) apiece.
The work is more erratic, but he earns between RP30,000-150,000 ($2.70-13.70) a day. The problem is increasing competition: "It is getting harder every day as more and more people compete for work," he told IRIN
Gas leaks
The number of victims is rising daily as the sinking mud triggers gas leaks. "In my village, several houses have big cracks in the floor and if you put a lighter near the cracks, flames leap up," says Winarko, "and these people have no choice but to live in these dangerous conditions with small children."
While the amount of mud spewing from the volcano has decreased, it is still enough to fill 20 Olympic swimming pools every day. Ahmad Zulkarnaen, spokesman for the disaster response agency, Badan Pelaksana Penanggulangan Lumpur Sidoardgo, said the focus was no longer on stopping the flow after numerous attempts, including plugging the hole with cement balls, failed. Instead, the agency, which is using government funds to rebuild infrastructure and maintain the dam walls containing the disaster site, is focusing on shipping the mud out to sea via the Porong River.
While that has its own problems, in terms of endangering river and sea life and increasing the risk of major flooding in East Java's capital city Surabaya, it is seen as the best option for dealing with the mud crisis.