Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Sidoarjo, East Java – Hundreds of mudflow disaster victims from Mindi village in Sidoarjo, East Java, staged a rally on Tuesday, by blocking highways and dismantling railway tracks in Porong district, to vent their anger over the lack of attention to their desperate living conditions.
The protest was held because, at a recent meeting, the Sidoarjo Mud Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPLS) failed to tell the public works minister, Joko Kirmanto, about the real conditions in their villages, which were affected by the mudflow disaster.
As a result of their protest, the major roads from Surabaya to Malang, Pasuruan, Probolinggo, Jember, Situbondo and Banyuwangi were paralyzed between 10:55 a.m. and 5:25 p.m. Thousands of passengers abandoned public vehicles and trains; the road and rail blocks required them to continue their journeys on foot. Trains from Malang to Surabaya were forced to stop in Bangil railway station and those from Surabaya, in Sidoarjo station.
Rally coordinator, Suprapto, said the protesters were demanding that their affected villages, which are no longer suitable for habitation, be included in the Lapindo Brantas mudflow map.
"When we went to Jakarta to meet minister Joko Kirmanto recently, he said that, based on data from BPLS, our villages are still green with many trees," he said.
Suprapto explained that the real condition was far from what Joko had been told; apart from many bubbles appearing from cracks in people's houses, pollution from discharged gas really affects their daily lives.
Most residents cannot do anything to earn a living, thereby forcing thousands of people to ask for the inclusion of their villages on the map, which shows areas affected by the mudflow disaster.
In their speeches, the residents demanded that BPLS chairman Soenarso come to the protest site to meet them. But Sidoarjo police chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Eddy Hermanto, said that the BPLS head was instead willing to talk with the protesters at his office in Gayungsari, Surabaya.
"The problem actually lies at BPLS, which did not explain the real condition about our villages to the public works minister," Suprapto said.
With regard to the protesters' demand, Joko told them at that time that they should have waited for the result of seismic tests. But the protesters said there was no need to wait for such tests to decide about the inclusion of their affected villages on the map; seismic tests were needed only for drilling purposes.
A protester, Joko Mulyono, said that if the BPLS was not willing to act responsibly toward the villagers, they would continue their protest action with a series of further demonstrations.
Commenting on the severe traffic jams caused by the road blocking, Sidoarjo police chief said that traffic had been diverted in cooperation with representatives from the BPLS and East Java's provincial administration.
"However, up to the present, it's still not clear as to who will meet and hold talks with the protesters to persuade them to open the blockade. We can only stand by and watch; we cannot do anything because we refuse to be repressive toward the protesters," Eddy said.
Meanwhile, Sri Winarto, spokesman from the East Java office of railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia, said that the protest had disrupted 20 railway services, mostly passenger trains.
"There are at least 500 passengers on every train," Sri Winarto said.