Ismira Lutfia – Victims of the mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java Province, tried a new tack on Sunday in their efforts to claim full compensation by offering gifts to the mother of Aburizal Bakrie, the man whose corporate interests they blame for their plight.
"We came with good intentions to meet Mrs. Bakrie and we brought her some gifts," said Tumiran, a 71-year-old villager who led the group of displaced residents of Kedungbendo, Siring, Jatirejo and Ketapang in Sidoarjo district.
"We wanted to ask her to remind her sons to fulfil their obligations to us," Tumiran said, referring to compensation ordered by government decree that has yet to be paid to the victims.
About 20 people representing residents of four villages submerged in the mudflow went to the home of Roosniah Bakrie in Menteng, Central Jakarta, but failed to meet the matriarch of the politically influential family of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie.
Hot, toxic mud began to flow from a fissure in the earth close to an oil and gas drilling well run by Bakrie Group company PT Lapindo Brantas on May 29, 2006. Lapindo has been blamed by experts for the disaster, which left thousands of people homeless.
PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, a Lapindo subsidiary, was appointed to handle the compensation claims process and agreed to pay Rp 30 million ($2,520) in monthly installments to more than 6,000 victims at a meeting facilitated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in December.
But last month, the company said it could only pay the victims in monthly installments of Rp 15 million per family, citing financial difficulties.
A Bakrie family assistant, who remained behind the fence around the house when the villagers arrived, said Roosniah was not available.
They brought Roosniah 50 kilograms of fruit and vegetables as gifts. Villager Yoseph Amy said the assistant would not accept the gifts, so they left them in front of the gate. "We came with good intentions, but it's up to them to decide how to respond," he said.
The group then marched back to the nearby Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, or YLBHI, to assemble with about 200 other displaced residents.
The group, carrying banners bearing the name "Geppres" – short for the Movement to Support the Presidential Decree – then proceeded to the Proclamation Monument in Central Jakarta, where they held a rally.
Geppres refers to the 2007 presidential decree ordering Lapindo to immediately cover 20 percent of the value of the victims' property. Compensation for the remainder was due in May 2008.
About 1,000 mudflow victims in Jakarta plan to hold protest rallies this week in several locations, including outside the State Palace and the Bakrie Group's offices in Kuningan, South Jakarta for an indefinite period, said Sumitro, another leader of the group of villagers.
"We ask Minarak to compensate us according to the presidential decree," Sumitro said, adding that the victims have asked the president to directly handle the matter and for the government to cover the compensation payments, because Minarak had failed to meet its obligations.
"But Minarak must pay the compensation to the government once they have the money," Sumitro said. The mudflow victims were concerned, he said, that Minarak's disregard for the decree would set a bad precedent.
Some victims are planning to hold a rally in front of the State Palace this morning and perform a mass prayer. "We hope our prayers open up the palace walls so [the government] hears our sufferings," Sumitro said.