Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Hundreds of victims affected by the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, have renewed calls for the government to compensate them for their land and houses threatened by soil degradation.

The victims are residents from Siring Barat, Jatirejo and Mindi villages in Porong district, areas that are not all included on the official map recognized by the central government.

Lutfi, 40, a victim from Siring Barat, said that people in his village were currently living in a "precarious environment" as many places in their village were threatened by inflammable gas explosions.

"There are many gas explosions in our village. They come up from the earth into our houses and land," he said Saturday. "For this reason, the East Java administration has decided that our village is not longer fit to be a residential area," added Lufti.

However, he said that most of the 600 families living in the village were yet to receive any compensation from the government.

Many houses have already been damaged by the explosions, he said. "Even though the condition is worsening, there is no help or compensation from the government."

Previously, the Sidoarjo Mud-flow Handling Agency (BPLS) announced that residents would receive compensation if they agreed to sign an agreement, declaring that they were willing to leave their home and village.

The contract stipulated that each family would receive Rp 2.5 million in aid to rent a house, Rp 500,000 for evacuation and a monthly allowance of Rp 300,000 for a six-month period.

However, Lutfi and many other residents have not yet left the village as the government is still evaluating the exact amount of compensation to be given.

Lutfi said that only 43 out of 600 families in his village had left their houses. "We want certainty. After the police close the Lapindo Brantas Inc. case, it is possible the government will set lower prices for the land and houses in our village," said Lutfi.

In August the East Java Police stopped their investigation into the Lapindo mudflow, which caused state losses of up to Rp 27.5 trillion. The police argued that expert witnesses failed to prove the mud-flow was caused by Lapindo's drilling activities.

However, the closure of the case sparked controversies among experts. Eleven out of 60 expert witnesses, all from the state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina, rejected the police's reasons insisting the mudflow in Porong was not caused by natural disaster, but human error.

Rudi Rubiandini, an oil expert from the Bandung Institute of Technology, said the mudflow was not natural disaster and that it could be stopped.

Senior geologist Andang Bachtiar warned the mudflow victims about large-scale soil degradation in affected areas across Porong.

Head of the Research and People's Dedication Institute (LPPM) at the Surabaya Institute of Technology, I Nyoman Sutantra, said his office would investigate the soil in Porong, while Djaja Laksana, a member of the ITS research team, said the government needed to find the best way to stop the mudflow to prevent further damage.