Lita Aruperes, Manado – Residents in Leilem village, Minahasa regency, North Sulawesi, have expressed serious concern as a hot mudflow at the PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) Lahendong exploration site in nearby Tondangow subdistrict has begun to affect them.

Leilem villagers said they hoped the responsible party would immediately deal with the mudflow and urged the Minahasa regency administration to immediately investigate the matter.

"North Sulawesi interim governor Sonny Sumarsono has arrived at the location and even went to Leilem village to provide an explanation to the public at a New Year service at the Immanuel Church in the village," said Leilem villager Ronny Sepang on Tuesday.

Ronny urged PGE to immediately respond to the mudflow and conduct analysis on the river and well water. "There should be a policy and decision made because the mudflow has threatened the safety of the residents who have been affected by it," said Ronny.

The mudflow, which has been compared to the Lapindo mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, has raised public concern because of its proximity to the river that flows through Leilem village. As a result, river water and a number of residents wells has changed color since Jan. 3.

Based on observations on Sunday, the color of water in the river and a number of wells in Leilem village had started to turn brown. Residents believe the river has been contaminated by mud from the mudflow gush point in Tondangow.

Residents daily activities have been interrupted as farmers are afraid to use the murky water from the river, which is used to water pig sties and for animal consumption.

The Lapindo disaster, which many believe was caused by drilling conducted by Lapindo, a firm owned by the family of businessman and Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, has drowned thousands of houses in mud since 2006.

In Minahasa, five gush points have reportedly been found in cluster 24 at the Lahendong PGE. Separately, PGE operations manager Ahmad Yani said the first incident took place on Nov. 30, 2015, the second in early December and the third in mid-December.

He added that the mudflow was different to the Lapindo one, and that it was just the result of the earth surface interacting with steam. He added that the incident was a natural occurrence and could also be related with wells.

Yani said that PGE was currently moving the drilling rig from Lahendong 25, or Leilem village, to Cluster 24, and was observing the well. "Should there be a leak in the casing, we will immediately repair it,"said Yani.

He added that PGE would carry out other restoration methods if there were indications of leaks from the well, to save assets and protect the environment.

Yani reiterated that residents should know that the steam emissions did not contain hazardous gases. Despite that, he said, PGE and the local administration would continue to monitor the situation.

Although interim governor Sonny urged locals not to be concerned by the mudflow, residents have continued to hold protests.

Consequently, PGE promised to temporarily close three wells while waiting for further analysis, which was being conducted by experts from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University.

"For the time being, we will close three wells emitting the hot mudflow, especially in light of the protests," said PGE chief spokesman Dimas Wibisono on Monday.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/01/06/minahasa-residents-fear-lapindo-esque-mudflow.html