Presidential hopeful Joko Widodo on Thursday pledged full compensation and steady jobs for victims of a mud volcano in Sidoarjo, East Java, whose eruption in 2006 has been blamed on a company linked to a party supporting rival candidate Prabowo Subianto.

Joko made the promise during an event to mark the eight anniversary of the eruption of the mud volcano, which swamped dozens of villages and hundreds of hectares of farmland.

Scientists blame drilling activities by the company Lapindo Brantas for triggering the eruption, but the government at the time decreed it a natural disaster.

Lapindo is controlled by the family of Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, who has endorsed Prabowo for the July 9 presidential election. Aburizal was the chief welfare minister at the time the eruption began.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/joko-promises-support-lapindo-mudflow-victims/