JAKARTA: The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) will announce the results of its final investigation on possible gross violations of human rights against thousands of mudflow victims in a 90-hectare area of Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java.

The hot, thick mudflow, allegedly triggered by careless drilling activities carried out by an oil and gas exploration contractor, has forced locals to flee their homes and rice paddies.

The contractor, PT Lapindo Brantas, is owned by the former coordinating minister for people’s welfare, Abu Rizal Bakrie, who held the position when the disaster first occurred on May 29, 2006.

The commission’s member, H.M. Kabul Supriyadhie, said here Monday that its final investigation results would determine Lapindo’s responsibility in the disaster.

“We will take our report directly to the Attorney General’s Office *AGO* after we finish the investigation,” he told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Monday.

Junior Attorney General for special crimes, Marwan Effendi, said through a text message on Monday that he looked forward to the investigation results.

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) said in its report published in October 2008 the Lapindo mudflow resulted purely from human error and had nothing to do with natural disasters.

Lapindo said that it regretted the results of the report, as they were not based on research results by experts. – JP

(c) The Jakarta Post