Jakarta – The House of Representatives officially announced Friday its special team would continue investigations into the mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java, while a move to question the government over the disaster remained a possibility. The announcement officially clarified confusion over a House plenary session decision on the disaster.
House Speaker Agung Laksono, all faction heads and the House's special mudflow team held a consultation meeting to arrive at a unified response to Tuesday's plenary session. Agung said the plenary session had reached two decisions.
"First, the plenary session agreed to extend the special team's working period. Second, the option the question the government is still alive and 'on call', following the implementation of the presidential regulation on the mudflow disaster," he said.
On Tuesday, lawmakers criticized a report from the special team, saying it sided with PT Lapindo Brantas, the mining company allegedly responsible for the disaster that has uprooted thousands people from their home.
Many lawmakers understood a decision was reached to summon state officials over the Sidoarjo mudflow. As the House revised the decision, the call to question the government officially, or interpellation, lost momentum among some lawmakers.
Priyo Budi Santoso, a deputy to the House special mudflow team from Golkar Party, tried to explain what Agung meant by "interpellation is on call".
"We will see to what extent the government and Lapindo are committed to Presidential Regulation No. 14/2007 about the handling of the mudflow disaster," he said. "If we think they are not serious enough, we will go with the interpellation."
The House did not mention a deadline for the government and Lapindo to implement the regulation.
Agung said calls to question the government were arising from individual lawmakers. "It has yet to be the House's interpellation," he said.
The special team's report was widely criticized for seemingly classifying the mudflow as a natural disaster, with no connection to Lapindo's mining activities. However, team member Tjahjo Kumolo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the House had not come to any conclusions on the cause of the disaster.
"That is not the House's authority," he said, adding the special team could use the extension of its mandate to monitor Lapindo's commitment to paying the remaining 80 percent of the Rp 3.2 trillion (US$348 million) in compensation for mudflow victims.
Earlier in the day, Lapindo vice president Yuniwati Teryana said the company had paid 20 percent of compensation to about 11,000 landowners in Sidoarjo. She said some victims had yet to receive compensation because they were having trouble verifying their land ownership.
Yuniwati said Lapindo would begin paying the remaining 80 percent of the compensation in May 2008. "We will pay in three phases," she said, adding the company would need one year to complete the payments.
Mudjib Imron, the Regional Representative Council's special team leader for the mudflow disaster, said the government has failed to make a serious effort to help the victims. "The government did not stipulate sanctions for Lapindo if the company violated its responsibilities," he said. (alf)