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Lapindo dams may collapse any time, agency warns

Source
Jakarta Post - March 11, 2009

Jakarta – The Sidoarjo Mud Mitigation Agency warned Tuesday that levees built to contain the massive mudflow pond in Sidoarjo, East Java, may collapse at any time after part of the inner circle dam gave way last week.

Agency spokesman Ahmad Zulkarnain said the Bakrie family-controlled PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, which was responsible for the dams, had not yet rebuilt the collapsed levee.

"It has been nine days, but Minarak has stopped supplying material," Ahmad said to tempointeraktif.com.

The news portal reported that mud had overflowed eastward and had completely filled the Glagaharum area.

With no more space in the pond, the mud moved westward and destroyed another dam.

"We cannot do anything. The inner circle dams are Minarak's responsibility," Ahmad said.

The mudflow disaster, which engulfed four villages and hundreds of hectares of farmland, displaced around 13,000 families from their homes.

It was fed by hot mud that began spewing from Lapindo's gas exploration site in May, 2006.

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