Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Residents of Sidoarjo, East Java, vented their frustration at the handling of the mudflow disaster in a violent protest Friday, but Vice President Jusuf Kalla said areas designated to contain the mud would have to be expanded a further 300 hectares.
Residents of worst-affected Porong district pelted stones and set fire to several facilities belonging to Lapindo Brantas Inc., which owns the gas exploration well that has spewed a torrent of hot, foul-smelling mud since May 29.
Residents also vandalized four water pumps set up to pump water from Porong River. They demanded the company stop dumping mud into the river and that embankments be strengthened to prevent their homes from being inundated.
The protest reportedly started when a team working to stop the mudflow prepared the pumps to siphon out riverwater.
Keboguyang villager Rahmat said the residents were worried the new work would create more ecological problems. "We've never been told about the pumps. We don't want Porong river being used to dump the mudflow," he told tempointeraktif.com. Dozens of police personnel arrived to disperse the residents.
A Lapindo external relations and security official, Budi Susanto, said he regretted the incident, which he blamed on poor public awareness of the plan.
The protest brought a halt to the ongoing work to stop the mudflow, but did not affect the partial operation of the recently reopened Surabaya-Gempol turnpike.
In Jakarta, Kalla said there was a plan to expand the embankments to some 300 hectares to prevent further spread of the mudflow. The mud now covers 180 hectares in what environmentalists call a manmade ecological disaster that has caused an estimated US$1 billion in damage to the area.
"Maybe the embankments will cover some 300 hectares more," he told journalists, saying that work would continue to strengthen the existing catchments. He said the government, through the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, had also deployed top local and foreign experts to try to end the mudflow problem, and strived to ensure the safety of residents and their property.
Meanwhile, the East Java Police questioned former Lapindo general manager Aswan Siregar for the first time Friday. Questioning reportedly focused on the drawing up of the drilling cooperation program and contract with PT Medici Citra Nusa.
Aswan served as general manager until February 2006 while exploration at the mudflow's source, Banjar Panji-1, began in March 2006. He was replaced by Imam Agustino, who has been named a suspect in the case. Aswan was summoned because Imam could not answer police questions on the drilling plan.
The head of the East Java Police special crime unit, Adj. Sr. Comr. I Nyoman Sukena, said there were no new suspects in the case.
The police have named nine suspects, including three Lapindo executives and six field operators, for negligence. The company's management has been faulted for allegedly failing to install protective casing at the required depth during the drilling process.
East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Herman Surjadi Sumawiredja said earlier the police would immediately bring the case to the court, and vowed there would be no bowing to political interests or outside pressure.
"Believe me, we're professional. If the investigation process takes some time, it's because the police is being careful and don't want to rush things up," he said.