Amir Tejo, Surabaya – Residents of a neighborhood in the Porong subdistrict of Sidoarjo, East Java, are reportedly refusing to leave their homes despite being warned that a new mudflow is threatening to consume the area.

"Up until today, only 40 families have submitted documents requesting assistance [to leave]," Ahmad Zulkarnain, a spokesman for the Sidoarjo Mudflow Observation Team (BPLS), said on Thursday.

This new mudflow began surging from the ground earlier this month near a house in Siring Barat, not far from the site of the massive Lapindo mud volcano that has covered entire neighborhoods, factories and paddy fields, and officials warn that it is growing in force.

Zulkarnain said 315 families lived in Siring Barat. They are eligible to apply for government assistance of Rp 2.5 million ($250) per year, but first they must vacate their homes.

He said residents were reluctant to leave because some had home businesses and others did not want to move far from their places of work or their children's schools.

"BPLS provides social aid of Rp 2.5 million per year, but the residents know too well that most houses require you to pay for two years' worth of rent," Zulkarnain said. "The residents do not want to go through all the trouble of finding a house that they can rent for one year only."

He said that his office would begin distributing aid to those families that had agreed to move. "We plan to disburse the funds tomorrow [Friday] through state-owned bank BNI," Zulkarnain added.