Jakarta – Hundreds of mudflow victims in the East Java town of Sidoarjo staged rallies on Sunday as part of the 5th anniversary of the disaster and are demanding compensation.

Rally coordinator Abdul Fatah said the government had failed to pay equal compensation to victims of the mudflow, which first erupted in May 2006 amid the drilling of PT Lapindo Brantas in the area. Lapindo Brantas is an oil and gas company affiliated with top politician and business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie.

"We mudflow victims want the government to be firm in this matter. The President should have more strength than a businessman," he said, as quoted by kompas.com.

Younger participants at the rallies performed a play depicting their suffering. Thousands living around the drilling site in Porong district, Sidoarjo, have been displaced because of the mudflow and were promised compensation.