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  • Bayar Dulu, Baru Ditanggul

    Bayar Dulu, Baru Ditanggul

    korbanlumpur.info – Jatuh tempo sisa pembayaran 80 persen terhadap aset warga seperti yang diamanatkan oleh Perpres 14/2007 sudah lewat lebih dari dua bulan. Tetapi sampai sekarang, Minarak Lapindo Jaya (MLJ) masih juga belum ada tanda-tanda untuk membayar aset warga tersebut. Sehingga, warga memutuskan untuk memasang pathok-pathok penanda bekas tanah milik warga di lokasi yang kini sudah tertimbun lumpur setinggi 10 meter.

    “Sepanjang kami belum dilunasi, tanah ini masih milik warga“, tegas Hari Suwandi, koordinator aksi dari Desa Kedung Bendo, Tanggulangin Sidoarjo. Aksi yang dilakukan tadi pagi, melibatkan sebanyak 300 warga dari 5 desa yang sudah tenggelam (Reno Kenongo, Siring, Jatirejo, Ketapang dan Kedung Bendo).

    Dalam aksi yang dikoordinasikan oleh korban yang tergabung dalam Gerakan Pendukung Peraturan Presiden (GEPPRES), warga memasang pathok-pathok penanda bekas tanah dan rumah kami yang sekarang sudah tenggelam. Aksi ini merupakan kelanjutan aksi sebelumnya, dimana warga memasang spanduk peringatan disekeliling tanggul.

    Aksi ini merupakan peringatan kepada pemerintah dan BPLS untuk segera mendesak Minarak untuk segera membayar sisa uang jual beli sebesar 80 persen. Sesuai amanat Perpres, jatuh tempo pembayaran adalah satu bulan sebelum masa kontrak 2 tahun habis. ”Padahal sekarang masa kontrak warga sudah habis, sementara masih belum ada kejelasan dari Minarak,“ tegas Ahmad Novik, salah seorang tokoh pemuda yang ditemui tim SuaraPorong.

    Sementara aksi berlangsung, Wakapolres Sidoarjo, Kompol Denny Nasution mengunjungi Posko GEPPRES yang terletak di tepi jalan Raya Porong di Desa Jatirejo. Pada kesempatan itu Wakapolres menawarkan kepada warga untuk mengajak Bupati dan BPLS bersama-sama dengan perwakilan warga untuk bersama-sama mendatangi Minarak, dan menanyakan alasan kenapa tidak segera melakukan pembayaran. Ketika ditanyakan kapan hal itu akan dilaksanakan, Wakapolres menjawab enteng, “dalam minggu-minggu kedepan.“

    Hal ini tidak memuaskan warga yang melakukan aksi. Suharto, salah seorang warga Jatirejo menyebut bahwa hal itu hanya untuk menenangkan warga yang kini sudah berada dalam posisi yang sangat terjepit. Meski begitu, warga akan menerima tawaran pertemuan tersebut, untuk melihat kejelasan sikap Minarak. Kalaupun pertemuan itu tidak membuahkan hasil, warga sudah siap dengan rencana selanjutnya.

    Warga akan akan menutup seluruh akses menuju tanggul dan memaksa BPLS menghentikan segala aktivitas di tanah mereka. “Warga berkeyakinan bahwa sepanjang mereka masih belum dilunasi pembayaran 80 persen secara tunai, tanah dibawah timbunan lumpur itu masih tanah mereka. “Jadi, bayar dulu, baru boleh ditanggul,”“ pungkas Hari Suwandi. (win)

  • Berkali-kali Dicek, Belum Masuk Rekening

    Warga Tagih Pelunasan 80 Persen

    SIDOARJO – Janji pelunasan ganti rugi 80 persen PT Minarak dipertanyakan oleh warga. Sebab, banyak warga mengaku belum menerima uang ganti rugi tersebut saat mengecek rekening di bank.

    Padahal, pada kuitansi yang mereka terima, dijelaskan bahwa uang akan ditransfer maksimal 14 hari setelah penandatanganan.

    Mursidi, salah seorang warga Kelurahan Siring, Kecamatan Porong, mengaku menandatangani akta jual beli bertanggal 26 Juni 2008. Seharusnya, uang itu masuk pada 10 Juli 2008. “Tapi, sampai sekarang uang tersebut belum masuk,” ujarnya.

    Yang bikin dia cemas, seluruh dokumen miliknya sudah diserahkan kepada PT Minarak saat penandatanganan akta jual beli. Sehingga, kini dia tidak memiliki bukti kepemilikan. “Kami merasa dirugikan,” ucapnya.

    Mursidi tidak sendirian. Banyak warga bernasib sama. Mereka sering mengecek rekening banknya melalui ATM. Hasilnya, tentu saja mereka kecele. “Kami selalu kecewa,” tutur warga yang enggan disebut namanya.

    Vice President PT Minarak Andi Darussalam Tabusalla menegaskan berkomitmen penuh pada janji yang pernah disampaikan. Yakni, pelunasan ganti rugi sepenuhnya.

    Jika sampai saat ini uang pelunasan itu belum masuk, penyebabnya adalah persoalan bank accounting (penghitungan di bank). “Jadi, mohon sabar,” jelasnya.

    Bila warga merasa resah atau dirugikan, Andi mempersilakan melapor ke kantor PT Minarak di ruko Juanda. Dia berjanji membuka diri untuk berkomunikasi dengan warga soal pelunasan dan ganti rugi. “Kami akan terbuka,” terangnya.

    Terkait cash and resettlement, Andi mengatakan tidak akan mengubah. Sebab, kebijakan itu sudah mengacu pada perpres. Yakni, pembayaran ganti rugi tersebut merupakan akta jual beli.

    Untuk persyaratan akta jual beli, harus ada sertifikat hak milik (SHM) atau hak guna bangunan (SHGB). “Kami rancang itu supaya tidak ada pihak yang dirugikan,” tegasnya. (riq/ib)

    © Jawa Pos

  • Korban Lapindo Belum Merdeka

    Korban Lapindo Belum Merdeka

    Pada Agustus ini, setiap kali menelusuri jalan raya di Jakarta, kita akan selalu menemukan pemandangan yang membangkitkan jiwa nasionalisme. Di sepanjang jalan, para pedagang bendera Merah-Putih dengan berbagai ukuran sedang menjajakan dagangan mereka.

    Bukan hanya bendera Merah-Putih yang menjadi komoditas andalan di bulan Agustus ini, tapi juga berbagai peralatan dan aksesori yang dapat digunakan untuk memeriahkan Hari Ulang Tahun Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia yang ke-63.

    Bulan ini 63 tahun yang lalu, para pahlawan kita gigih berjuang dengan mengorbankan jiwa dan raganya demi kemerdekaan Indonesia, sebuah negara baru yang akan melindungi dan menyejahterakan rakyatnya.

    Untuk itulah, sebuah kewajaran pula bila seluruh rakyat Indonesia merayakan hari yang bersejarah itu dengan sukacita. Terlebih ada ungkapan bahwa bangsa yang besar adalah bangsa yang menghargai para pahlawannya.

    Sayangnya, pada tahun ini tidak semua warga memperingati hari kemerdekaan negerinya dengan sukacita. Tak jauh dari Kota Pahlawan Surabaya, tepatnya di kawasan Porong, Sidoarjo, sudah dua

    tahun ini ribuan warga kehilangan nafkah, rumah, bahkan juga kehilangan harapan mereka untuk menatap masa depan, akibat semburan lumpur Lapindo.

    Adalah Mbok Ma, seorang nenek tua warga Dusun Sengon, Renokenongo, Sidoarjo. Seperti yang ditulis di web korban Lapindo, selama ini nenek tersebut hidup sendiri di rumah yang berukuran 5 x 6 meter.

    Nenek itu hidup tanpa pekerjaan dan tanpa uang simpanan di bank. Ia bisa hidup layak dan bahagia sekalipun tanpa kerabat. Itu semua karena ia hidup di Desa Renokenongo.

    Kebahagiaan Mbok Ma ini tiba-tiba pudar seiring munculnya semburan lumpur Lapindo yang menenggelamkan kampungnya. Tak hanya rumahnya yang hancur, tapi juga kebahagiannya dalam hidup bertetangga di sebuah desa.

    Bukan hanya Mbok Ma yang mengalami nasib tragis. Ada Bapak Yakup beserta istrinya, yang meninggal pada April lalu. Hasil pemeriksaan dokter menyebutkan, keduanya meninggal karena sesak napas
    akibat menghirup gas beracun.

    Selain sepasang suami-istri di atas, ada korban lain dari warga Siring Barat. Dia bernama Unin Qoriatul. Hasil pemeriksaan dokter menyatakan, di dalam saluran pernapasannya terdapat cairan yang tampak dalam bentuk bayangan gas. Kini kondisi kesehatannya terus menurun.

    Selain warga Siring, warga Jatirejo Barat juga mengalami nasib sama. Seorang ibu bernama Luluk meninggal pada Maret 2008 lalu. Penyebab kematiannya sama, yakni mengalami sesak napas akibat
    menghirup gas beracun di sekitar rumahnya.

    Sementara itu, sebuah penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Walhi Jawa Timur menyebutkan bahwa semburan lumpur Lapindo ternyata juga mengandung gas beracun yang berbahaya bila terhirup oleh manusia.

    Winarko, seorang warga asli Sidoarjo, bahkan khawatir akan lahir generasi cacat akibat gas beracun dari semburan lumpur Lapindo.

    Mbok Ma, Bapak Yakup dan istrinya, Unin Qoriatul, serta warga korban Lapindo lainnya adalah sebagian warga negara Indonesia yang sejak dua tahun yang lalu telah jauh dari kata merdeka. Mereka dihinakan dan dihilangkan nafkahnya, bahkan juga hidupnya, oleh lumpur Lapindo.

    Lantas, ke mana perginya negara yang dulu dicita-citakan akan melindungi dan menyejahterakan rakyat? Negara yang seharusnya berada di garda depan dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak warganya ternyata justru “bersujud” di hadapan PT Lapindo.

    Sejak awal Lapindo telah melucuti satu demi satu kekuasaan dan kewibawaan negara. Sejak dari proses perizinan, korporasi ini telah membuat negara jadi sangat tak berdaya.

    Aturan tantang tata ruang wilayah yang menempatkan kawasan Porong sebagai kawasan permukiman pun dengan mudahnya ditabrak Lapindo. Akhirnya, korporasi itu pun mendapat izin untuk mengeksploitasi kawasan yang kini telah menjadi kubangan lumpur itu.

    Untuk mengatasi semburan lumpur itu, semula pemerintah mengeluarkan Keputusan Presiden Nomor 13 Tahun 2006 tentang Tim Nasional Penanggulangan Lumpur di Sidoarjo. Dalam keputusan tersebut secara
    jelas disebutkan tanggung jawab Lapindo untuk mengatasi kerusakan lingkungan dan persoalan sosial yang muncul akibat semburan lumpur.

    Regulasi itu kemudian diganti dengan Peraturan Presiden No. 14/2007, yang justru berupaya meringankan bahkan menghilangkan tanggung jawab PT Lapindo atas dampak sosial dan lingkungan hidup dari semburan lumpur panas itu. Setidaknya ada dua hal dalam peraturan presiden tersebut yang membebaskan Lapindo dari tanggung jawab tersebut.

    Pertama, dalam peraturan presiden itu terdapat pembagian wilayah kelola yang menjadi tanggung jawab negara dan Lapindo (pembuatan peta wilayah yang terkena dampak dan di luar peta terkena dampak). Padahal sebelumnya semua menjadi tanggung jawab Lapindo akibat kelalaiannya melakukan pengeboran.

    Kedua, skema penanganan dampak sosial dan lingkungan direduksi menjadi skema jual-beli. Padahal dampak sosial dan ekologi tidak bisa hanya diselesaikan dengan skema jual-beli aset korban.

    Kini Perpres No. 14/2007 sudah direvisi lagi menjadi Perpres No. 48/2008. Namun, peraturan baru itu hanya untuk memperluas peta dampak semburan lumpur Lapindo. Roh Perpres No. 48/2008 itu tetap saja menilai bahwa lumpur Lapindo adalah bencana alam sehingga uang rakyat dari anggaran negara harus tetap digelontorkan untuk menyubsidi sebuah korporasi besar yang seharusnya bertanggung jawab atas malapetaka itu.

    Negara, yang seharusnya melindungi rakyatnya, kini harus bertekuk lutut pada Lapindo. Sementara dulu Indonesia tunduk pada korporasi Belanda yang bernama VOC, kini negara harus kembali tunduk pada sebuah korporasi yang kebetulan dekat dengan pusat kekuasaan. Sejatinya, tak hanya korban Lapindo belum merdeka, tapi juga negara ini.

    Negara belum mampu melepaskan diri dari penjajahan korporasi yang sepak terjangnya merugikan publik. Kasus Lapindo adalah contoh yang baik bagi kita untuk merefleksikan kembali arti kata merdeka.

    # Pemerhati Lingkungan Hidup, Bekerja di OneWorld-Indonesia

    © Koran Tempo

  • Warga Desak BPLS Lakukan Evakuasi

    Warga Desak BPLS Lakukan Evakuasi

    SIDOARJO – Desakan terhadap Badan Penanggulangan Lumpur Sidoarjo (BPLS) agar segera mengevakuasi warga terus berdatangan. Kemarin (12/8) desakan itu datang dari M. Mirdas yang di dalam rumahnya muncul semburan gas disertai lumpur.

    Dia menegaskan bahwa rumahnya sudah tidak layak huni. Yaitu, rumah yang berlokasi di Kelurahan Jatirejo RT 4 RW 1, Kecamatan Porong, Sidoarjo. Itu terjadi setelah muncul semburan di dalam kamar dan samping rumahnya. “Ini sangat berbahaya,” katanya.

    Dia meminta BPLS melakukan evakuasi secepatnya. Sebab, kondisi rumahnya merupakan bukti bahwa kawasan tersebut berbahaya. “Bukti sudah ada. Sudah saatnya dievakuasi,” ucap pria yang juga anggota DPRD Jatim itu.

    Humas BPLS Akhmad Zulkarnain membenarkan bahwa peristiwa itu membuktikan kawasan rumah Mirdas berbahaya. Dia juga menjelaskan, semburan lumpur yang keluar disertai gas itu mudah terbakar. “Jadi, perlu kewaspadaan,” ujarnya.

    Terkait desakan evakuasi, Zulkarnain mengatakan, pihaknya akan menampung permintaan tersebut. BPLS sudah sering mengajukannya ke tingkat dewan pengarah. “Kami sudah melaporkan semuanya,” tuturnya.

    Namun, hingga saat ini belum ada keputusan menyangkut status kawasan tersebut. Dia menegaskan bahwa BPLS akan selalu berupaya membantu warga untuk mendapatkan haknya. “Kami akan selalu upayakan,” katanya.

    Seperti diberitakan, tiga kawasan di sebelah barat Jl Raya Porong belum masuk peta. Kawasan itu adalah Kelurahan Jatirejo bagian barat dan Siring bagian barat. Padahal, semburan lumpur dan gas sering muncul di kawasan tersebut. (riq/ib)

    © Jawa Pos

  • Harga Sama dengan Lapindo

    SIDOARJO – Meski pengukuran sudah dimulai, warga masih belum tenang. Sebab, sampai saat ini tidak ada kejelasan masalah harga tanah yang akan dibayarkan. Karena itu, warga berharap segera ada kejelasan menyangkut harga tersebut.

    Mereka adalah warga yang tinggal di Desa Besuki sebelah barat ruas bekas jalan tol, Pejarakan, dan Kedungcangkring. Semuanya masuk Kecamatan Jabon.

    Abdul Rokhim, wakil warga, mengakui adanya keresahan itu. Saat ini warga menanyakan harga tanah dan bangunan mereka yang sudah terendam. Mereka sangat berharap harganya disamakan dengan harga tanah dan bangunan yang diganti rugi PT Lapindo. “Kami berharap sama,” ujarnya.

    Rokhim juga mengatakan, seharusnya pada sosialisasi yang lalu dijelaskan pula harga ganti ruginya. Tujuannya, agar warga tidak resah.

    Deputi Sosial Badan Penanggulangan Lumpur Sidoarjo (BPLS) Soetjahjono Soejitno menjelaskan, soal harga akan dibahas dalam pertemuan berikutnya.

    Dia mengatakan, penentuan harga didasarkan pada Perpres No 14 Tahun 2007, yakni atas dasar keadilan.(riq/ib)

    © Jawa Pos

  • Surat Terbuka Kepada Presiden RI

    Surat Terbuka Kepada Presiden RI

    Korban Lapindo Menagih Janji

    Yang terhormat Presiden Republik Indonesia selaku pelayan rakyat Indonesia. Saya bertindak untuk dan atas nama korban lumpur Lapindo dengan kuasa kemanusiaan, bermateraikan lembaran kristal air mata korban Lapindo yang telah kering, yang sebentar lagi dapat berubah mencair mendidih, melebihi panas lumpur Lapindo.

    Bapak Presiden, korban Lapindo selama ini bernasib tidak sebaik yang diiklankan di media massa. Saya hanya mengingatkan bahwa Lapindo Brantas Inc telah membuat kesepakatan penyelesaian dengan pemerintah sehingga terbit Peraturan Presiden No. 14 Tahun 2007 (Perpres No. 14 / 2007).

    Pasal 15 Perpres itu menentukan:

    Dalam rangka penanganan masalah sosial kemasyarakatan, PT Lapindo Brantas membeli tanah dan bangunan masyarakat yang terkena luapan lumpur Sidoarjo dengan pembayaran secara bertahap, sesuai dengan peta area terdampak tanggal 22 Maret 2007 dengan akta jual-beli bukti kepemilikan tanah yang mencantumkan luas tanah dan lokasi yang disahkan oleh Pemerintah (ayat 1).

    Pembayaran bertahap yang dimaksud, seperti yang telah disetujui dan dilaksanakan pada daerah yang termasuk dalam peta area terdampak 4 Desember 2006, 20% (dua puluh perseratus) dibayarkan di muka dan sisanya dibayarkan paling lambat sebulan sebelum masa kontrak rumah 2 (dua) tahun habis (ayat 2).

    Dahulu, untuk memperoleh pembayaran 20 persen jual-beli tanah dan rumah korban Lapindo tersebut harus melalui aksi massa. Sekarang, ketika dua tahun kontrak rumah korban Lapindo berlalu, PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya (yang ditunjuk Lapindo Brantas Inc) tidak bersedia membayar 80 persen terhadap tanah-tanah yang belum bersertifikat (petok D, leter C, gogol dan yasan). Perlu saya tekankan lagi, cara penyelesaian sosial korban Lapindo adalah “jual-beli” tanah dan rumah korban yang kini telah berubah menjadi kekayaan danau lumpur itu.

    Bapak Presiden, mengapa PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya tidak mau membayar untuk melunasi sisa pembayaran 80 persen kepada korban Lapindo yang tanahnya belum bersertifikat? Padahal diantara mereka telah menandatangani Ikatan Perjanjian Jual Beli (IPJB)? Hal itu disebabkan PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya menuruti pendapat notaris/pejabat pembuat akte tanah (PPAT) yang digunakannya.

    Saya mengingatkan kilas balik perjalanan kesepakatan segitiga antara pemerintah, Lapindo Brantas Inc dengan korban Lapindo. Pada 24 April 2007 korban Lapindo dari Perumahan Tanggung Angin Sejahtera (Perumtas) I Sidoarjo menghadap Wakil Presiden RI yang mewakili Bapak Presiden. Dalam pertemuan itu hadir Menkokesra, Menteri Pekerjaan Umum, Gubernur DKI Jakarta dan Direktur Utama Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN).

    Risalah Rapat 24 April 2004 yang dipimpin Bapak M. Jusuf Kalla itu menyepakati sisa pembayaran sebesar 80 persen dilakukan bersama dengan pembayaran kepada masyarakat di empat desa (menurut Peta Wilayah Terdampak 22 Maret 2007) pada bulan April 2008. Pak Presiden, sekarang ini sudah bulan Agustus 2008, bulan kemerdekaan, tapi korban Lapindo masih jauh dari merdeka.

    Soal tanah-tanah yang belum bersertifikat, pada tanggal 2 Mei 2007 telah disepakati oleh perwakilan korban Lapindo, Menteri Sosial, Badan Penanggulangan Lumpur Sidoarjo (BPLS), Badan Pertanahan Nasional (BPN), Ketua DPRD Kabupaten Sidoarjo dan PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya, yang intinya menentukan bahwa tanah-tanah petok D, leter C, SK gogol diperlakukan sama dengan tanah-tanah bersertifikat. Pak Presiden, mayoritas tanah korban Lapindo belum bersertifikat.

    Selepas dari penandatanganan Risalah Kesepakatan pertemuan tersebut, PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya kembali ingkar. Setelah mulai jatuh tempo pembayaran 80 persen (bertahap, mulai April 2008), lagu lamanya dinyanyikan lagi: PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya tidak mau membayar. PT. Minarak Lapindo hanya mau membayar rumah yang telah tenggelam, sedangkan tanahnya akan diganti dengan tanah kaplingan (bekas sawah) yang disediakan oleh perusahaan lain di bawah Grup Bakrie. Sedangkan uang muka 20 persen tadi dianggap hibah kepada warga korban Lapindo.

    Kelihatannya menguntungkan korban Lapindo, tapi kenyatannya tidak sebab tanah kaplingan penggantinya itu masih belum jelas, penyerahannya 8 bulan hingga setahun, dan harga asalnya hanya sekitar Rp. 200 ribu/m2, sedangkan tanah pemukiman/pekarangan korban Lapindo telah disepakati Rp. 1 juta/m2. Meskipun ada janji bahwa nantinya korban Lapindo boleh menjual tanah pengganti itu seharga Rp. 1 juta/m2 tetapi itu sudah menyimpang dari pasal 15 Perpres No. 14/2007.

    Tak ada kepastian bahwa PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya akan patuh dengan perjanjian yang baru itu, sebab PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya sudah ingkar dengan beberapa kesepakatan yang telah dibuat dan tidak patuh dengan pasal 15 Perpres No. 14/2007 itu. Dengan pasal 15 Peraturan Presiden No. 14 / 2007 (yang sudah dikuatkan putusan MA No. 24 P/HUM/2007) saja ingkar, apalagi dengan kesepakatan yang tak ada dasar hukumnya?

    Pak Presiden, dalam pertemuan dengan Bupati Sidoarjo, BPLS dan BPN Kabupaten Sidoarjo pada 5 Agustus 2008 yang lalu PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya tidak hadir. BPN sendiri menyatakan bahwa tanah-tanah petok D, leter C, gogol dan yasan bisa dibuatkan akte jual beli (AJB). BPN sudah mengeluarkan petunjuk pelaksanaan tanggal 24 Maret 2008. Jadi, secara hukum administrasi negara sudah tidak ada kendala. Jika PT. Minarak Lapindo tidak patuh kepada Perpres No. 14/2007 itu, apakah Bapak Presiden hanya akan diam saja menonton penderitaan korban Lapindo?

    Apakah pasal 15 Perpres No. 14/2007 itu masih berlaku?

    Kalau ada yang mengatakan bahwa dengan dibayarkannya 20 persen tanah pertama dua tahun lalu itu warga korban Lapindo sudah makmur, itu kebohongan besar. Mayoritas mereka kehilangan pekerjaan dan mulai mencari pekerjaan baru dan banyak yang menanggung utang.

    Dalam pertemuan dengan Komnas HAM tanggal 1 Mei 2008 di Pendopo Kecamatan Tanggulangin Sidoarjo, wakil korban lumpur lapindo dari Gabungan Korban Lumpur Lapindo (GKLL) yang telah memberikan mandat kepada Emha Ainun Nadjib mengatakan bahwa apabila PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya tidak bersedia membayar sisa 80 persen itu maka di Sidoarjo akan terjadi banyak gelandangan sebab rata-rata korban Lapindo terlanjur menanggung utang sebab berharap dari pembayaran 80 persen itu.

    Perlu Bapak Presiden ketahui, akibat PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya yang membangkang jatuh tempo pembayaran sesuai pasal 15 ayat (2) Perpres No. 14/2007, kini masyarakat korban Lapindo terpecah-belah, saling bermusuhan akibat munculnya cara-cara baru di luar cara menurut pasal 15 Perpres No. 14 / 2007. GKLL itu pecah, muncul organisasi baru bernama Gerakan Pendukung Perpres No. 14/2007 (GEPPRES).

    Munculnya cara-cara penyelesaian di luar pasal 15 Perpres No. 14 / 2007 itu akibat pemerintah yang tidak tegas kepada PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya yang mempersulit penyelesaian sosial itu padahal dasar hukumnya sudah jelas. Sekali lagi, pemerintah tidak tegas untuk memaksa pihak Lapindo. Tetapi bagaimana nasib korban Lapindo yang membuat kesepakatan di luar pasal 15 Perpres No. 14/2007 jika kelak PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya atau perusahaan pengembang yang menyediakan tanah pengganti itu ingkar? Padahal cara penyelesaian masalah sosial yang sudah ditentukan itu tidak murni bersifat perdata, tetapi terkandung kewajiban pemerintah memenuhi hak asasi manusia berdasarkan pasal 28 I ayat (4).

    Pak Presiden. Bahkan ada ratusan kepala keluarga korban Lapindo yang belum menerima pembayaran 20 persen dengan berbagai alasan, tanpa penyelesaian. PT. Minarak Lapindo juga mengingkari kesepakatannya dengan ratusan kepala keluarga korban Lapindo pengontrak rumah (yang tak punya tanah dan rumah sendiri).

    Jika diurai, masih ada banyak masalah lainnya, termasuk masalah kesehatan masyarakat sebab menurut temuan Tim Kajian Pemerintah Provinsi Jawa Timur, konsentrasi gas hidrokarbon di daerah sekitar semburan lumpur Lapindo mencapai 55.000 ppm, padahal ambang batas toleransinya adalah 0,24 ppm. Kasihan para penduduk korban, terutama anak-anak mereka yang masih mempunyai masa depan, jangan sampai masa depan mereka rusak gara-gara pemerintah tidak cepat dan tepat untuk menyelesaian persoalan korban Lapindo itu.

    Masyarakat korban Lapindo telah begitu sabar. Meski menderita kerugian materiil dan imateriil yang tak terkira besarnya, mereka cukup patuh dengan Perpres No. 14/2007 yang hanya mengharuskan jual-beli tanah dan rumah korban lumpur yang tenggelam. Bahkan mereka telah diikat oleh PT. Minarak Lapindo Jaya dalam perjanjian dan pernyataan agar mengakui bahwa semburan lumpur itu bencana alam dan mereka tidak boleh menuntut Lapindo secara perdata dan pidana. Meski tidak tahu arti semua itu, mereka mau menandatangani pernyataan dan perjanjian seperti itu.

    Surat ini saya sampaikan secara terbuka, agar dapat sampai dan dibaca Pak Presiden dan banyak orang, bahwa itulah yang terjadi, tidak seindah yang diiklankan di media massa.

    Demikian surat ini, mohon agar negara ini tetap berdiri dalam kemerdekaan, tidak tenggelam menjadi Republik Lumpur Lapindo.

    Hormat saya, pesuruh sebagian korban Lapindo.

    Subagyo, 081615461567

  • Semburan Baru di Jatirejo

    Semburan Baru di Jatirejo

    SIDOARJO – Semburan baru yang disertai gas mudah terbakar kembali muncul. Kali ini munculnya semburan berlokasi di Kelurahan Jatirejo bagian barat RT 2 RW 1. Semburan itu berdekatan, sekitar 4 meter, dengan Jl Raya Porong.

    Selain menyemburkan air dan gas, semburan tersebut mengeluarkan partikel lumpur agak kental. Partikel lumpur itu mengalir ke arah Jl Raya Porong. Akibatnya, bahu jalan tergenang air beserta lumpur.

    Humas Badan Penanggulangan Lumpur Sidoarjo (BPLS) Akhmad Zulkarnain mengatakan, semburan mulai muncul Minggu pagi (10/8). Namun, debitnya kecil seperti gelembung biasa. “Kami pikir tidak ada masalah,” ujarnya.

    Semburan itu mulai membesar Minggu pukul 23.00. Ketinggian air yang dikeluarkan mencapai 50 sentimeter. Warga sempat panik hingga kemudian melapor ke BPLS. “Kami langsung melakukan evakuasi,” jelas dia.

    Kemarin (11/8) semburan tersebut sudah tertutup drum berdiameter 50 sentimeter dengan ketinggian 1 meter. Di drum tersebut terpasang pipa vertikal dan horizontal. Pipa vertikal berfungsi untuk mengalirkan gas ke udara. Sedangkan yang horizontal berguna untuk mengalirkan air beserta lumpur ke sungai, yang terletak 10 meter dari semburan itu. (riq/ib)

    © Jawa Pos

  • Diperlakukan Beda, Warga Pejarakan Menolak

    Diperlakukan Beda, Warga Pejarakan Menolak

    korbanlumpur.info – Warga desa Pejarakan Kecamatan Jabon mengaku resah dengan wacana bahwa tipe bangunan mereka akan diperlakukan berbeda-beda. “Mereka membedakan bukan hanya antara tembok atau gedek (bambu), tapi bahkan sampai beda antara lantai keramik atau tidak, tembok memakai plesteran semen atau tidak, bahkan tipe genteng karangpilang atau biasa. Sampai segitu pembedaannya,” demikian ungkap Suwojo, warga desa Pejarakan.

    Dari hasil pertemuan sosialisasi antara BPLS dan warga, dinyatakan bahwa penilaian harga tiap bangunan di tiga desa berdasar Perpres No 48 Tahun 2008 akan dibedakan. “Untuk pengukuran tanah, dilakukan BPN. Tapi pengukuran bangunan juga penilaian nilai bangunan dilakukan PT Cipta Karya,” imbuh pemuda desa Pejarakan ini.

    Berbeda dengan korban lumpur Lapindo yang ada dalam peta 22 Maret 2007 berdasar Perpres No 14 Tahun 2007 yang menyatakan bahwa harga bangunan disamakan seharga 1,5 juta rupiah, warga di tiga desa ini (Pejarakan, Kedung Cangkring, dan Besuki) tidak mendapat kebijakan yang sama.

    “Itu pernyataan langsung Pak Bajuri dari BPLS,” jelas Suwojo. Keadaan ini tampaknya sudah berdampak buruk bagi proses konsolidasi gerakan rakyat yang ingin mendapat hak-haknya kembali. “Warga jelas bergejolak dan resah. Namun mereka ditakut-takuti, kalau tidak mengikuti, tidak akan diikutkan (pembayarannya),” ujar pria berusia 37 tahun itu.

    Aparat Desa sendiri tampaknya juga tidak berpihak ke warga, bahkan sudah diangkat menjadi pelaksana terbawah BPLS yang juga mendapat dana operasional. “Mereka bilang sendiri, pelaksana terbawah BPLS itu kepala desa, dan mereka diberi uang operasional untuk itu,” tambah Suwojo.

    Pembedaan penilaian nilai bangunan antara warga yang di dalam peta area terdampak versi Perpres No 14 Tahun 2007 dan 3 desa yang dinaungi Perpres No 48 Tahun 2008 jelas berpotensi menimbulkan kecemburuan dan perpecahan. Suwojo menyatakan bahwa warga menginginkan persamaan perlakuan. “Kalau kita, ya, maunya disamakan saja (dengan versi Perpres 14/2007).”

    Selain itu, untuk pengukuran tanah sendiri juga menyisakan masalah tersendiri. Kepala Desa tidak mau memberikan surat-surat tanah warga (Petok D dan Letter C) kepada warga dengan dalih menunggu hasil pengukuran. “Setahu saya, itu ada di kepala desa, tapi dia bilang yang boleh tahu hanya kepala desa dan camat,” terang Suwojo yang bertempat tinggal di RT 6 RW 4 desa Pejarakan ini.

    Tentu saja menjadi tanda tanya besar, mengapa warga dilarang mengetahui informasi luas lahan tempat tinggalnya sendiri. Keberadaan warga di atas tanahnya dibuktikan dengan surat-surat tersebut, tanpa memiliki sendiri surat-surat itu, posisi warga akan lemah jika dilakukan pengukuran tanah ulang oleh BPN. “Kita akan memaksa kepala desa untuk menunjukkan (surat-surat) itu. Kan tanah itu hak kita, kenapa kita tidak boleh meminta Petok D dan Letter C kita?,” tandasnya.

    Sekali lagi terlihat bahwa pemerintah tidak serius menyelesaikan persoalan warga korban lumpur Lapindo. Kebijakan-kebijakan yang diambil selalu menciptakan potensi keresahan dan ketegangan di dalam warga sendiri. Aparat pemerintahan pun lebih sering tidak memihak kepentingan warga, sehingga posisi korban semakin dilemahkan dengan berbagai cara.

    “Mereka (BPLS)  masih meminta kita untuk percaya kepada mereka, sekarang, ya sudah tidak bisa lagi,” pungkas Suwojo menunjukkan kemarahannya akan nasibnya yang tak kunjung mendapatkan penyelesaian berarti. [re]

  • Warga Pertanyakan Pengukuran

    SIDOARJO – Sosialisasi tentang rencana pengukuran lahan dan ganti rugi telah dilaksanakan Badan Penanggulangan Lumpur Sidoarjo (BPLS) di Desa Besuki. Dalam kesempatan itu, warga mengajukan beberapa pertanyaan menarik.

    Misalnya, terkait bentuk fisik yang diukur berdasar kondisi sebelum atau sesudah terendam lumpur. Abdul Rokhim, wakil warga, mempertanyakan hal itu. Menurut dia, kondisi bangunan sebelum dan sesudah terendam berbeda. Misalnya, lantai yang sebelumnya keramik sekarang tidak bisa dilihat kembali. Selain itu, beberapa benda rumah telah dijarah orang. “Jadi, kondisinya sudah tidak sama,” katanya.

    Jika didasarkan pada kondisi terakhir, Rokhim menyatakan, banyak warga yang rugi. Sebab, bentuk fisik saat ini tidak sebaik kondisi awal. Otomatis, hasil pengukurannya berbeda. “Sebaiknya disesuaikan dengan kondisi awal,” pintanya.

    Pertanyaan itu ditanggapi Humas BPLS Akhmad Zulkarnain. Dia menjelaskan, ketika pengukuran nanti, tim pengukur wajib didampingi pemilik rumah. Mereka (pemilik rumah) akan ditanya kondisi bangunan yang sebelumnya dan dibandingkan dengan sekarang. “Untuk itu, kami mohon warga menuturkan kondisi yang sebenarnya,” tuturnya.

    Bila pemilik rumah sedang berhalangan, Zulkarnain meminta ada pihak yang sudah diberi mandat untuk mendampingi tim pengukur. Dengan begitu, tim pengukur tidak kesusahan mencari orang yang akan ditanya tentang kondisi sebelum dan sesudah terendam lumpur. “Minimal harus ada wakilnya,” ucapnya.

    Zulkarnain menambahkan, keberhasilan pengukuran bergantung pada kerja sama beberapa pihak. Yakni, tim pengukur yang terdiri atas Dinas Pekerjaan Umum (PU) Cipta Karya dan Badan Pertanahan Nasional (BPN) serta dukungan dari masyarakat. “Semuanya harus bekerja sama,” katanya.

    Zulkarnain menegaskan, pengukuran akan berlangsung secara optimal. Supaya cepat selesai, tim pengukur bekerja dua kali dalam sehari. Yaitu, siang mereka melakukan pengukuran, sedangkan malamnya membuat rekapitulasi hasil pengukuran.

    “Semua itu dikerjakan di pos yang bertempat di salah satu rumah warga,” ujarnya. Dia juga menyatakan bahwa warga bisa melihat hasil rekapitulasi pengukuran di posko tersebut.

    Ditanya soal bukti tanah, Zulkarnain mengatakan tidak masalah. Sebab, pihak BPN tidak mempersoalkan letter C atau pethok D. Yang dipersoalkan adalah ukuran tanah yang sebenarnya. “Maka, dilakukan pengukuran,” jelasnya.

    Kemarin malam (8/8) sosialisasi dilaksanakan di Balai Desa Pejarakan. Mereka yang hadir adalah warga Desa Pejarakan dan Kedungcangkring, Kecamatan Jabon. Di Pejarakan ada 9 RT yang masuk peta, sedangkan di Kedungcangkring ada 3 RT.

    Zulkarnain menjelaskan, sosialisasi hanya membahas masalah pengukuran. (riq/ib)

    © Jawa Pos

  • BPLS Mulai Sosialisasi, Kali Pertama di Desa Besuki

    SIDOARJO – Kerisauan warga tiga desa direspons Badan Penanggulangan Lumpur Sidoarjo (BPLS). Kemarin malam (7/8) BPLS melakukan sosialisasi tentang rencana pengukuran dan ganti rugi lahan dan bangunan milik warga.

    Sosialisasi pertama dilakukan di Desa Besuki, Kecamatan Jabon. Malam nanti, akan dilanjutkan ke Desa Kedungcangkring dan Pejarakan, Kecamatan Jabon.

    Sosialisasi pertama kemarin bertempat di Balai Desa Besuki, Kecamatan Jabon. Hadir tim BPLS, wakil Dinas Pekerjaan Umum (PU) Cipta Karya, Badan Pertanahan Nasional, dan beberapa pihak yang terkait proses ganti rugi.

    Dari pihak warga, yang hadir adalah perangkat desa setempat. Juga, 17 ketua RT dari 5 RW dan dua wakil warga.

    Berdasar data sementara, jumlah kepala keluarga (KK) mencapai 941. Luas sawah 509.588 meter persegi. Luas pekarangan 374.918 meter persegi. Bangunan mencapai 236.780,33 meter persegi. Wilayah yang dimaksud adalah Desa Besuki sebelah barat bekas ruas jalan tol.

    Staf Humas BPLS Akhmad Kusairi mengatakan, sosialisasi bertujuan menjelaskan persiapan serta pelaksanaan pengukuran dan mekanisme untuk mencairkan ganti rugi.

    Sosialisasi juga menegaskan status tanah letter C dan pethok D. “Ini akan dijelaskan dalam forum itu,” katanya.

    Dengan adanya sosialisasi tersebut, warga diharapkan bisa mengerti prosedur ganti rugi. Dengan begitu, dana yang diambilkan melalui APBNP bisa cair secepatnya. ”Kami berharap tidak ada hambatan,” ucapnya.

    Abdul Rokhim, wakil warga, menyambut baik langkah BPLS. Dia berharap itu diikuti penjelasan petunjuk pelaksanaan (juklak) dan petunjuk teknis (juknis). ”Kabarnya, juklak dan juknis sedang disusun,” ujarnya.

    Hingga berita ini ditulis, sosialisasi masih berlangsung sehingga hasilnya belum diketahui. (riq/ib)

    © Jawa Pos

  • Perjuangan Panjang Warga Pemilik Tanah Letter C

    Tolak Resettlement, Tuntut Pembayaran 80 Persen Tunai

    Tanpa terasa dua tahun lebih lumpur menyembur di Sidoarjo. Selama itu pula berbagai penderitaan dialami warga. Salah satunya kehilangan tempat tinggal. PT Minarak telah membayar uang muka ganti rugi 20 persen. Namun, pelunasan 80 persen sampai saat ini masih banyak yang belum terbayarkan.

    Dwi Sulastriyah, 32, asal Dusun Sengon, Desa Renokenongo, Kecamatan Porong, mengaku resah. Sebab, sampai saat ini dia belum menerima pelunasan ganti rugi tersebut. Padahal, dia sangat membutuhkan uang itu untuk melanjutkan hidup dan membangun rumah di tempat lain.

    “Saya sangat membutuhkan (uang, Red) itu,” ujarnya. Saat ini yang ada dalam benaknya hanyalah pelunasan ganti rugi rumahnya. Namun, untuk mendapatkan haknya itu butuh perjuangan sangat berat. Sebab, surat-surat tanahnya dianggap tidak memenuhi persyaratan yang ditetapkan PT Minarak. “Surat tanah saya hanya Letter C,” katanya.

    Pada pelunasan 80 persen, PT Minarak menetapkan sertifikat harus hak milik (SHM) atau hak guna bangunan (SHGB). Sebab, persyaratan akta jual beli harus menyertakan sertifikat tersebut.

    Hal itulah yang membuatnya prihatin. Gara-gara bukti tanah hanya Letter C, nasib mereka terkesan dipermainkan. Yakni, PT Minarak tidak mau membayar dalam bentuk tunai, melainkan dengan resettlement. “Padahal, saya butuh uang untuk membeli atau membangun rumah baru,” ucapnya.

    Keprihatinan yang sama dirasakan Untung, 35, warga lain. Ganti rugi yang diterima belum tuntas. Padahal, rumahnya sudah hancur untuk pembangunan tanggul. “Ini masih tanah saya karena belum dilunasi,” ujar yang sambil menunjuk tanggul yang berdiri di atas bekas rumahnya.

    Atas dasar itulah dia bersama warga lain melarang pekerjaan tanggul di kawasan Sengon, Desa Renokenongo, Kecamatan Porong. Penolakan itu dilakukan dengan memasang tiang di sekitar tanggul tersebut. Tiang yang terbuat dari bambu setinggi 1,5 meter itu bertuliskan “Jangan Ditanggul”.

    “Kami tidak izinkan sebelum ada pelunasan ganti rugi dalam bentuk tunai,” tegasnya.

    Keprihatinan itu juga dipicu oleh riwayat tanah tersebut yang umumnya tanah warisan. Artinya, ketika lumpur menenggelamkan kawasannya, tenggelam pula nostaliga yang pernah mereka alami.

    Ahmad Sutono, salah satu ketua RT di desa itu, berharap penderitaan warga cepat selesai. Hal itu ditandai dengan pelunasan ganti rugi 80 persen tunai. Dia tidak menginginkan resettlement. “Yang diinginkan warga hanya pembayaran tunai,” katanya.

    Dia meminta pemerintah segera turun tangan untuk menyelesaikan permasalahan tersebut. Sebab, warga sudah sangat menderita. Mereka sudah kehabisan uang untuk mengontrak rumah. Pastilah uang tunai yang dibutuhkan. “Karena itu, kami ingin dibayar tunai,” pinta Ahmad.

    Humas Badan Penanggulangan Lumpur Sidoarjo (BPLS) Akhmad Zulkarnain memahami posisi warga. Dia berharap warga mengomunikasikannya dengan BPLS.  “Keluh-kesah mereka akan kami sampaikan ke tingkat atas. Atau kami jadikan dasar untuk mendesak PT Minarak,” ujar Zulkarnain yang mengaku siap diajak diskusi kapan saja.

    Dia juga meminta warga mengizinkan pengerjaan tanggul dilanjutkan kembali. Jika tanggul tidak diperkuat, kawasan lain bisa terancam. “Itu akan merugikan warga lain,” tegas dia. (ib)

    © Jawa Pos

  • Ganti Rugi Belum Lunas, Warga Patok Tanggul

    SIDOARJO, KOMPAS – Sekitar 50 warga korban lumpur Lapindo memasang patok di tanggul lumpur Lapindo di Kecamatan Porong, Kabupaten Sidoarjo, Jawa Timur, Minggu (10/8). Hal itu sebagai bentuk protes warga karena sisa ganti rugi sebesar 80 persen tak kunjung dibayar oleh PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya.

    Warga korban lumpur dari RT 18, 19, dan 20 Desa Renokenongo tersebut bergerak menuju tanggul sekitar pukul 11.00. Beberapa warga memasang patok kayu bertuliskan nama masing-masing untuk menunjukkan bekas tempat tinggalnya sebelum terendam lumpur.

    “”Kami menolak pembangunan tanggul sebelum ganti rugi dilunasi,”” kata Ketua RT 20 yang juga koordinator aksi, Ahmad Sutomo.

    Warga lain, Dwi Sulastriyah, mengatakan, “PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya (MLJ) ingkar janji karena hingga masa kontrak rumah habis Juli lalu, sisa ganti rugi sebesar 80 persen hingga kini belum diberikan.”

    Kepala Humas Badan Penanggulangan Lumpur di Sidoarjo (BPLS) Ahmad Zulkarnain menyatakan, pihaknya akan mendesak PT MLJ agar segera membayar sisa ganti rugi. Jika tidak segera diselesaikan, hal itu akan mengganggu penanganan teknis lumpur Lapindo oleh BPLS.

    Menurut Zulkarnain, selain warga yang belum menerima sisa ganti rugi 80 persen, masih ada sekitar 1.000 korban lumpur yang belum menerima ganti rugi sama sekali. ””PT MLJ sudah berkomitmen akan menyelesaikan paling lambat September 2008. Jika proses verifikasi selesai, ganti rugi akan segera dibayar,”” katanya.

    Wakil Presiden PT MLJ Andi Darussalam Tabussala mengatakan, warga yang masa kontraknya habis pada Juli atau Agustus 2008 dijanjikan akan diberi perpanjangan masa kontrak selama empat bulan. (APO)

  • Tewas Akibat Gas: Kisah Pilu Warga Korban Lumpur Lapindo

    Tewas Akibat Gas: Kisah Pilu Warga Korban Lumpur Lapindo

    korbanlumpur.info – Desa Siring bagian barat, Kecamatan Porong, Kabupaten Sidoarjo adalah sedikit wilayah dari 12 desa lainnya yang menjadi korban lumpur Lapindo. Akibat luapan lumpur Lapindo, Desa Siring barat mengalami kerusakan lingkungan sangat parah. Rumah-rumah warga mengalami keretakan pada dindingnya.

    Kondisi dinding yang retak itu sangat rawan ambruk, dan sangat mungkin menimbun penghuni rumah. Selain dinding, lantai rumah rumah warga juga mengalami kerusakan. Bahkan di tengah-tengah lantai rumah warga, keluar bau gas yang mudah terbakar. Bau gasnya mirip sekali dengan gas elpiji, bahkan cenderung menyengat.

    Semburan semburan berskala kecil dan besar juga tersebar luas di wilayah ini, mulai dari Siring barat, Jatirejo barat, Mindi, dan desa-desa lainnya di sekeliling tanggul lumpur Lapindo. Hingga kini, jumlahnya mencapai 94 titik semburan baru di desa-desa tersebut. Khusus Desa Siring barat, korban telah berjatuhan akibat gangguan kesehatan, karena kondisi lingkungan yang rusak.

    Sejak empat bulan yang lalu, kondisi Siring barat semakin hari semakin parah. Di antaranya sepasang suami isteri yang telah meninggal akibat sesak nafas. Sesak nafas itu menghinggapi sepasang suami-isteri itu karena tekanan gas yang sangat tinggi di lingkungan rumahnya. Suami isteri itu bernama Yakup dan Ny Yakup.

    Ny. Yakup meninggal tanggal 28 April 2008. Hasil pemeriksaan dokter menyebutkan, keduanya meninggal karena sesak nafas akibat kandungan gas. Sebelumnya, telah warga ada warga Jatirejo barat yang bernama Sutrisno juga meninggal dunia pada 14 Maret 2008 akibat sesak nafas karena tingginya kadar gas beracun di lingkungan rumahnya.

    Selain sepasang suami isteri di atas, ada korban lainnya dari warga Siring barat. Ia bernama Unin Qoriatul. Hasil pemeriksaan dokter tanggal 28 April 2008 menyatakan, di dalam saluran pernafasan Unin Qoriatul terdapat cairan yang tampak dalam bentuk bayangan gas. Kondisi ini membuat kesehatan Unin Qoriatul drop.

    Selain di Siring, warga Jatirejo barat juga mengalami nasib yang sama. Seorang ibu bernama Luluk meninggal pada 26 Maret 2008 meninggal dunia. Akibat kematiannya sama, yakni mengalami sesak nafas akibat tekanan gas yang begitu tinggi di lingkungan rumahnya.

    Walau telah ada korban korban berjatuhan, pemerintah dan PT Lapindo Brantas tak kunjung bertanggung jawab secara maksimal. Hampir tiap hari petugas dari PT Vergaco melakukan inspeksi untuk mendeteksi kondisi lingkungan di desa-desa di atas. Namun, hasil inspeksi itu tak pernah disosialisasikan ke warga.

    Pemerintah yang seharusnya bertanggungjawab untuk memberikan peringatan dini atas bahaya lingkungan ini, nyatanya hal itu tidak dilakukan. Sampai-sampai korban pada berjatuhan. Akankah negara membiarkan rakyatnya terenggut kematian terus menerus? Padahal negara sangat memiliki kapasitas untuk membuat proteksi atas keselamatan rakyatnya.

    Dunia harus tahu, bahwa ada pengabaian yang dilakukan pemerintah atas warga korban lumpur Lapindo yang berada di luar peta area terdampak. [ring]

  • New report says Indonesia mud disaster man-made

    JAKARTA, June 10 AAP – Indonesia’s devastating mud volcano is a man-made disaster caused by exploratory drilling for gas, a new report has found.

    Researchers say the finding disproves the theory, long-argued by the exploration well’s operator, that an earthquake 250km away was to blame.

    The mud volcano burst through the earth two years ago during deep drilling at the exploratory gas well, linked to Indonesia’s richest man and also part-owned by Australian company Santos.

    It has spewed millions of cubic metres of hot, stinking sludge in heavily populated East Java over the past two years.

    “We are more certain than ever that the Lusi mud volcano is an unnatural disaster and was triggered by drilling the Banjar-Panji-1 well,” Professor Richard Davies, of Durham University in the United Kingdom, said in a statement.

    The mud now covers seven square kilometres, and has displaced 30,000 people and swallowed 11 villages, thousands of homes, businesses, paddy fields and mosques. It continues to spurt 100,000 cubic metres of mud each day.

    The study – described as the most detailed scientific analysis to date – was published in the academic journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters this week.

    It follows a study by Durham University last year which found the mud eruption was “almost certainly man-made”, and caused by the exploratory drilling.

    But the well’s operator Lapindo – linked to the powerful family of Indonesia’s Public Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie – has long argued it was a natural disaster caused by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Yogyakarta two days earlier, a claim backed by a Jakarta court ruling last year.

    In the latest study, University of California researchers tested claims that the eruption was caused by the Yogyakarta tremor and found it did not play a role.

    “We have known for hundreds of years that earthquakes can trigger eruptions – in this case, the earthquake was simply too small and too far away,” said the university’s Professor Michael Manga.

    The report found the effect of the earthquake was minimal, with only a “tiny” resulting change to underground pressure. It said scientists were 99 per cent certain drilling operations were to blame.

    The research comes just weeks after another study by Durham University, which found the mud volcano was in danger of collapsing on itself. It warned the bleak, sodden landscape is sinking – and could subside by as much as 146 metres over the coming years.

    Comment was being sought from Lapindo.

    © AAP News Wire

  • A Wound in The Earth

    In Indonesia, an entire district has been buried by an eruption of boiling, noxious mud. Was it a natural disaster-or an industrial accident?

    On the morning of June 2, 2006, Ahmad Mudakir, a 33-year-old factory worker from Porong, a sleepy district in eastern Java, was in his front yard tinkering with his motorbike. A little after 8 a.m. he felt a rumbling in the ground-worrying, but not wholly unexpected in this seismically fitful corner of Indonesia. What happened next was anything but expected. Mudakir watched as a neighbor, who had been inside eating breakfast, came tumbling into the street. “There was an explosion,” Mudakir recalls. “Then the mud started to flow.” He gaped in amazement as a geyser of scalding sludge shot five meters into the air, collapsing the roof of his neighbor’s house. Mudakir froze. Then he gathered his mother and two brothers from inside his own house. “The whole village was panicking. Everyone ran.” Mudakir didn’t stop to collect his family’s belongings. He assumed he’d be able to return home.

    Today, Mudakir’s village, along with much of the rest of Porong, is gone, swallowed by an ash-gray lake of mud. The noxious sludge, incredibly, continues to flow at a rate of up to 5.3 million cu. ft. (150,000 cu m) a day-enough to fill 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools. In total, Porong has been smothered beneath nearly 3.5 billion cu. ft. (100 million cu m) of the stuff. The mud has buried 12 villages, displaced around 16,000 people and caused more than a dozen deaths. Porong hasn’t just been destroyed; it has been erased. Where Mudakir’s house once stood, there is now a vast, gurgling expanse, with only the occasional protruding tree branch or rooftop to suggest the landscape entombed beneath it.

    Locals call it Lusi-a portmanteau of the Indonesian word for mud, lumpur, and the name of the nearest city, Sidoarjo. Lusi is a mud volcano, though that appellation is somewhat misleading. The mud is actually more like brackish water. And, unlike the igneous volcanoes that dot Indonesia’s countryside, the underground plumbing fueling Lusi is largely mysterious. Twenty-two months after it first erupted, Lusi remains the world’s most bewildering environmental disaster. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Richard Davies, a geologist at Britain’s Durham University and one of only a handful of experts on mud volcanoes. “It’s a scene, when you see it, you can only say, ‘Oh, my God, it’s a complete bloody mess.’”

    The destruction is total. At the eruption’s epicenter-known to workers at the site as the Big Hole-a 100-ft. (30 m) plume of white smoke billows into the sky, obscuring the sun and spreading the sulfurous odor of rotting eggs. On a narrow causeway leading to the caldera, dozens of trucks idle in a queue, waiting to deliver soil for the massive earthworks meant to contain the mud. Already, they have transported more than 88 million cu. ft. (2.5 million cu m) of dirt to build eight miles (13 km) of levees around the site. Dozens of cranes work late into the evening piling the dirt atop bulwarks nearly 65 ft. (20 m) tall in places.

    As the mud rises, so must the levees, but so far Lusi seems to be outpacing human engineering. Twice the earthworks have been breached-most recently on Jan. 4-flooding more houses. On Nov. 22, 2006, the weight of the soil ruptured a natural-gas pipeline, causing a massive fireball that incinerated 13 workers.

    According to an International Monetary Fund estimate, Lusi has already cost Indonesia $3.7 billion in damage and damage control. And things are likely to get worse. As mud spews up from the ground, the area around the eruption is gradually sinking. Eventually, Porong could become a giant sucking wound in the Earth.

    Ground Forces

    INDONESIA IS BOTH BLESSED AND CURSED by geology. Volcanic ash contributes to the archipelago’s fecund soil. Yet eruptions periodically kill thousands. Indonesia is also rich in minerals and oil, exporting nearly half a million barrels a day. All told, the country’s buried wealth accounts for almost 30% of its total exports. But the same grinding geologic processes that make this wealth possible also bedevil Indonesia with disasters like the 2004 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 160,000 people in Sumatra. Lusi is unlike any previous disaster, however. Unfolding in implacable slow motion, it has confounded Indonesian engineers and mystics alike. The mostly poor villagers who have lost homes and livelihoods to the mud complain that the response to the unfolding disaster has been equally sluggardly-a symptom, perhaps, of the fault lines in Indonesian society’s own unsettled foundations.

    That’s because mud isn’t the only thing boiling over in Porong. Villagers displaced by the eruption blame the disaster on PT Lapindo Brantas, an Indonesian mining company drilling for natural gas in the area. Lapindo is partly controlled by the family of Aburizal Bakrie, Coordinating Minister for the People’s Welfare, one of Indonesia’s wealthiest men and an ally of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Victims of the disaster say that a murky web of political influence and corporate fecklessness has blunted the official response to the mud eruption. “Everyone is suspicious,” says Mas Achmad Santosa, one of Indonesia’s most prominent environmental lawyers. “It’s a politically heavy case.”

    Some independent geologists, including Davies, believe that Lapindo may have inadvertently roused the awesome force slumbering beneath Indonesia. “I’m 98% certain this was due to drilling,” he says. Davies, who visited Porong last year and has studied the eruption extensively, thinks he knows how that happened. On May 27, Lapindo’s Banjar Panji-1 well was operating in a field not far from Ahmad Mudakir’s village. The well’s target was a shelf of limestone some 9,800 ft. (3,000 m) below the surface. Lapindo’s drillers were searching for natural-gas deposits, but the well was exploratory. No one knew for certain the subterranean conditions beneath Porong. The drillers had reached about 9,300 ft. (2,800 m) when they noticed a drop in pressure inside the well.

    Such a drop, called a loss of circulation, isn’t uncommon in gas drilling. It usually means that natural fractures inside the borehole are allowing drilling fluid to leak out. Lapindo’s engineers responded by pumping heavy drilling mud into the well to seal the cracks and restore pressure. Then they began to pull out the drill. Davies thinks that while they were removing the drill on the morning of May 28, they set off a massive “kick,” in which high-pressure water and gas from the surrounding rock flowed into, rather than out of, the borehole. To prevent a potentially dangerous blowout, the drillers shut vents at the surface, effectively corking the pressure inside the well. But it was too late. Water from a pressurized aquifer thousands of feet below the surface surged upward, picking up debris from a layer of mudstone as it did. Davies compares the effect to a bicycle pump. When the pump is sealed, the pressure is contained inside. But when it is allowed to escape, air comes rushing out. Lapindo’s drilling primed a natural pump, he believes. Unable to escape through the capped well, the water sought other avenues. At around 5 a.m. the following morning, the first eruption started in a rice paddy about 500 ft. (150 m) from the Banjar Panji-1 rig.

    Banjar Panji-1 never should have gotten so out of control, according to Richard Swarbrick, a British expert on geological pressure and a consultant to oil companies. Usually, when drilling in geologically unstable areas, engineers install steel casing at greater depths, where the low density of the rock might allow fluid to escape from the borehole. In the event of a kick, the casing allows drillers to maintain the integrity of the well. Swarbrick, who has reviewed Lapindo’s drilling plan, says the company originally intended to install casing at depths of 3,500 ft., 4,500 ft. and 8,500 ft. (1,000 m, 1,400 m and 2,600 m). “The conventional well design in that sort of pressure environment would be to install casing,” Swarbrick says. Yet, either through oversight or because of technical problems, Lapindo did not case the hole to the planned depth. “For whatever reason, they weren’t following the plan,” Swarbrick says. “They had 5,000 feet of open hole. That’s taking one heck of a risk.”

    The Nature Argument

    LAPINDO SAYS ITS DRILLING PLAN WAS approved by the government. “The drilling process complied with mandatory regulations,” says company vice president Yuniwati Teryana. “We met the requirements.” Teryana offers another explanation for the eruption. Two days before Lusi started, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook the city of Yogyakarta, about 190 miles (300 km) to the west of Porong. Lapindo believes that the quake opened natural fractures that allowed the mud to escape. “The mud eruption is caused by a natural phenomenon,” Teryana says. That’s an opinion shared by Adriano Mazzini, a geologist at the University of Oslo.

    After studying data provided by Lapindo, Mazzini concluded that Lusi was probably caused by the May 27 earthquake. “There is strong evidence for a naturally triggered event,” he says. Davies believes that if the eruption had been caused by the quake, it would have occurred sooner afterward; he cites research suggesting Porong was too far from the earthquake’s epicenter to be affected.

    Given that no one fully understands the powerful subterranean engine powering Lusi, efforts to stop it have proven predictably ineffectual. Two relief wells intended to reduce pressure inside the original well have failed. Early last year, scientists from Indonesia’s Bandung Institute of Technology came up with a more novel idea: dropping thousands of concrete balls, linked with chains like a string of pearls, into the Big Hole. The idea was to bleed off pressure inside the volcano slowly enough so that Lusi wouldn’t simply erupt elsewhere-or shoot the concrete balls back out like a cannon. Satria Bijaksana, one of the Bandung scientists who came up with the idea, says that the balls reduced the mud’s flow temporarily. But the project was abandoned last March when a new government team took over management of the site. More recently, a Japanese team proposed building a 130-ft.-high (40 m high) dam to contain the mud. Scientists familiar with Lusi have dismissed that idea. Because the ground beneath the caldera is still sinking, a heavy concrete dam would likely rupture.

    Going with the Flow

    LUSI MAY, IN FACT, BE UNSTOPPABLE. IN 1979, the oil company Shell set off a similar eruption while drilling off the shore of Brunei. That mudflow took 20 years and 20 relief wells to halt, according to Mark Tingay, a geologist at the University of Adelaide in Australia. Lusi may eventually choke itself as mud clogs its interior plumbing. But if left to die on its own, Davies estimates that it could continue to erupt for years, and perhaps even decades. Hardi Prasetyo, deputy head of the new government team in charge of Lusi, says that his workers are now focusing on containing, rather than stopping, the mud. The current strategy includes channeling the sludge into the nearby Porong River in the hope that it will be flushed to the sea. Mud flows through a massive spillway to a pumping station, from which it gushes into the river. Two dredges work to keep the waterway open. But already, the river is filling with mud. At a shrimp farm downstream, where men stripped to their underpants wade through paddies, workers complain that the mud is clogging their water supply. “This is a war,” says Prasetyo, gesturing at a line of trucks rumbling along a levee. “We are not promising to stop it. We must also pray to God.”

    Locals have turned to less orthodox methods. According to one popular story, the Lapindo drilling may have angered a spirit living in a tree near the eruption site. Such beliefs have an enduring appeal in this part of Indonesia, where religion is a syncretic mix of Islam and animism, and Lusi has drawn mystics from Bali and Borneo, who have sacrificed chickens, monkeys and even a cow to mollify the upset spirit. The government’s engineering team has tried similar tactics; a spokesman says the group has hired diviners to pray for rain to wash the mud away.

    Along with the mystics have come opportunists. To attract curious visitors, one enterprising local hotel changed its name to Kuala Lumpur: “Lake of Mud.” In the roads near Lusi, shirtless men dart in and out of traffic selling bags of roasted nuts and dried fruit. They have also installed themselves at certain busy intersections, and demand a small levy to let cars pass. At the top of a levee, the men eagerly tout CDs compiled from video footage of the disaster. “Professional best,” promises one CD featuring a photo of a charred, mud-crusted corpse on its front cover. Some of the CD sellers are displaced villagers; others are merely hoping to make a little money. One man cheerfully says he is a pickpocket. For 10,000 rupiah, or about one dollar, the touts offer visitors motorbike tours of the site.

    One, a laconic, mostly toothless man named Purwanto, says he was a farmer before the mud smothered his rice fields. He now makes extra cash taking tourists to the wreckage of his house, located in the shadow of the levees. Purwanto’s village flooded last year when the dikes broke, and, although it hasn’t been fully inundated yet, most of the people have demolished their homes for scrap and moved on. At present, the village looks like it has been carpet-bombed, with piles of rubble rising out of the greasy water. Purwanto points out an especially large mound: the remains of the town’s grandest house. His own more modest home is gone except for the broken stubble of the walls. “I was born at this house,” Purwanto says, sucking contemplatively on a clove-scented cigarette. From a nearby mosque, still being used despite the rising mud, the call of the muezzin echoes through the abandoned village. “Where my parents are buried is covered by the mud,” Purwanto adds.

    There’s no question about whom the villagers blame for their distress. At a refugee camp in a local outdoor market, where more than 2,000 people live in converted, tarp-covered stalls amid goats grazing contentedly on piles of garbage, graffiti makes their target clear: “Lapindo terrorist,” one reads. The company provides food for everyone in the camp, along with services such as a medical clinic and a makeshift mosque. But the villagers are quick to recite a litany of complaints, from the quality of the rations to the health effects of the mud (though the government team says the gas coming from Lusi has no ill effect, locals complain of difficulty breathing and strange rashes).

    Mostly, though, they complain about money. On the orders of the Indonesian government, Lapindo has agreed to compensate the villagers with a total of $412 million-the company is offering 20% of the money up front, with the balance paid within two years. “It will not be enough,” says Riati, a 45-year-old woman sitting outside the 16-ft.-wide (5 m wide) cubicle where she lives with her husband and sister. Riati says she turned down Lapindo’s offer of 40 million rupiah, or about $4,500-with an initial payment of 8 million rupiah-because she says even the full amount is not enough for her to buy a new home. Teryana, the Lapindo vice president, says the company hopes the holdout villagers can be persuaded to accept the compensation scheme.

    Anger Management

    AS NEGOTIATIONS HAVE DRAGGED ON, THE refugees are growing increasingly militant. In one corner of the market camp, villagers have stockpiled sharpened bamboo stakes-a defense against possible forced eviction. The villagers have also directed their anger at local officials regarded as allies of the company. At one recent protest, a crowd of about 200 people occupied a government compound to demand the resignation of a village chief. The demonstration began almost casually, with families picnicking or resting beneath the shade of a banyan tree. But tempers rose with the broiling midday heat. A squad of policemen armed with machine guns arrived and took up a position opposite the protesters.

    “Please respect our suffering,” a man shouted through a loudspeaker. A scuffle broke out between police and protesters, and the policemen surged forward, kicking and pushing the scattering demonstrators. One of the protest’s leaders explained that the police had previously exercised restraint when dealing with them. “We carry out our protests in a peaceful manner,” he said. “We never have anarchy.” Then he added, for portentous effect: “Not yet.” The demonstrations are indeed growing more aggressive: on Feb. 19, villagers blockaded a main road in the Sidoarjo area to protest a new parliamentary report that concludes Lusi was a natural disaster.

    Fueling the refugees’ anger is the fear that Lapindo will walk away from its promises. Last September, PT Energi Mega Persada, a company controlling 50% of the Lapindo drilling project and connected to Bakrie, the Indonesian Cabinet minister, attempted to unload Lapindo for $2 to a company based on the island of Jersey but owned by Bakrie’s family conglomerate.

    When Indonesian financial regulators blocked that sale, Energi Mega tried to sell half the beleaguered Lapindo to the Freehold Group, registered in the British Virgin Islands. That deal also collapsed amid controversy. The attempted corporate reshuffling raised fears among many that Lapindo was preparing to declare bankruptcy, thus potentially allowing parent company Energi Mega Persada to evade any liability for Lusi. Lapindo says it is committed to compensating Lusi’s victims.

    Critics say the government’s own response to the disaster has been muddy at best. “The government is not serious in its handling of the disposal of the mud or settling the social problems caused by the disaster,” says Sonny Keraf, Indonesia’s former Environment Minister and head of a parliamentary investigation into Lusi. “They are leaving the people to face the company when it should be acting as a bridge between them.” Keraf says that, while he believes Lapindo is acting in good faith, the government’s indecisiveness is blunting any sense of urgency. A yearlong police investigation into the eruption has resulted in no indictments or clear conclusions. “It’s all about politics,” says Ivan Valentina Ageung, head of legal affairs for the environmental group Walhi, referring to the disaster in general. Walhi sued Lapindo, alleging it was responsible for Lusi; that, as well as another lawsuit, were decided in favor of Lapindo. A spokesman for Yudhoyono denies that Bakrie’s connection to the administration has influenced the government’s response. Indeed, it was Yudhoyono who ordered Lapindo to compensate the displaced villagers.

    But cleaning up Lusi’s mess won’t be easy. In a worrying sign, heavy rains in early January caused a breach in the levees, forcing more than a hundred families to evacuate. With the government’s attempts to stop or channel the mud faltering, and the tide rising by the day, the sludge that swallowed Porong could eventually threaten another quarter-million homes. Indonesia’s Big Hole only gets deeper.

    Petter Ritter | © Time

  • Indonesian Firms Denied Drilling Caused Mud Volcano

    JAKARTA (Reuters) – A volcano that started spewing hot mud in Indonesia two years ago displacing more than 50,000 people was triggered by tectonic activity, experts working for the energy firm blamed by some for the disaster said on Thursday.

    The comments contrast with the view of an international team of experts who said on Monday that drilling for a gas exploration well, and not an earthquake, set off the volcano in East Java.

    A geologist and drilling expert working for oil and gas firm Lapindo Brantas said that the international team, led by Richard Davies of Britain’s Durham University, had based their findings on the wrong data and assumptions.

    “Experts opinion, Davies and others, that concluded that the burst came from the drilling well is based on a study that used the wrong data and assumption,” Edy Sutriono, drilling expert at Lapindo, told a news conference.

    The international team had said records kept by Lapindo during the drilling of the gas exploration well called Banjar-Panji-1 showed an underground blowout that could have triggered the disaster.

    But Bambang Istadi, a geologist at Lapindo, said tectonic activity had caused an old escarpment to crack and become the channel for the mud to flow.

    The company and some experts have argued that the mud flow was caused by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Yogyakarta and its aftershocks that happened two days before the eruption. That quake, centred 160 miles from the mud volcano, killed 6,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless.

    Richard Davies told Reuters on Thursday that the well was being drilled next to a mud volcano at the same time it erupted.

    The hot noxious mud began spewing near the gas exploration site in Sidoarjo, in East Java, on May 29. “I mean, it’s just I’m sorry, there’s just too much evidence now to propose that this isn’t due to the well,” he added, noting there would be a public debate with Lapindo experts on the issue in late October this year in Cape Town, South Africa.

    The mud, which is flo wing at a rate of more than 100,000 cubic metres a day, has displaced more than 50,000 people and covered more than 2.5 square miles.

    A mud volcano is usually a naturally occurring phenomenon created when a mix of mud, water and gas forms underground and is forced to the surface. There are a few thousand on earth.

    PT Energi Mega Persada indirectly controls Lapindo, which holds a 50 percent stake in the Brantas block where the mud originated. PT Medco Energi International Tbk holds a 32 percent stake and Australia-based Santos Ltd the rest.

    The situation has also become a major embarrassment for the government since Energi is owned by the Bakrie Group, controlled by the family of chief social welfare minister, Aburizal Bakrie.

    Indonesia’s government has ordered Lapindo to pay 3.8 trillion rupiah ($408.1 million) in compensation to the victims and to cover the damage ($1=9311 Rupiah).

    Olivia Rondonuwu | © Reuters

  • Jakarta puts own interests first in tale of two disasters

    On May 27 last year, 6,650 people died and 450,000 homes were damaged or destroyed when an earthquake struck near the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta.

    Two days later, mud started gushing from the ground 280km to the east after a mishap near the town of Sidoharjo at an exploratory drilling well. More than 11,000 homes and two dozen businesses have since been buried under 20m-deep mud flows that are still spewing at a rate of 130,000 cubic m a day. Rail, road and gas links to a large section of east Java have been severely disrupted, sending reconstruction costs and estimated economic losses soaring to billions of dollars, more than that of the earthquake.

    A year on, the Indonesian government’s contrasting responses to these two separate disasters demonstrate the significance of decisive political leadership and the continuing power of well- connected businesspeople.

    Only 1 per cent of people who lost their homes in Yogyakarta lack temporary shelter or a permanent new home. More than 90 per cent of markets, schools and health centres have been rebuilt and more than 80 per cent of damaged irrigation networks are functioning properly.

    “In the 10 years that I’ve been doing this, this (recovery) has gone the most smoothly,” says Peter Manfield, of the United Nations’ co-ordination office.

    Bill Marsden, recovery co-ordinator for the International Federation of the Red Cross in Yogyakarta, says the reconstruction process could be finished next year, a year earlier than expected.

    “The crucial thing was the speed with which the government mobilised the money and the system that was used,” he says. “It wrong-footed everyone. No one thought it would be possible to disburse so much money so quickly. It has shown what can be done with the right political will.”

    The local government in Bantul, the worst-affected district, received its 2007 reconstruction funds in April; regular central government budget allocations are unlikely to be disbursed for another month.

    President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had good reason to act so efficiently. “Yogyakarta is the heartland of the nation,” says a diplomat. “The president could not afford to neglect millions of people on his doorstep.”

    The situation in Sidoharjo could not be more different. Lapindo Brantas, the company doing the drilling that police say triggered the mudflow, is owned by the family of Aburizal Bakrie. Mr Bakrie is the senior welfare minister and a prominent member of Golkar, which as the largest party in parliament provides key support to Mr Yudhoyono. This has cast a dark shadow across the whole relief operation.

    “If Bakrie hadn’t been involved, the situation would not have been like it is now,” says Anton Soedjarwo, director of Dian Desa, a relief organisation. “The response would have been more pragmatic.” Mr Bakrie has denied that Lapindo employees’ negligence caused the disaster but he has agreed to buy all the victims’ destroyed property and pay some of the clean-up cost.

    Lapindo has been ordered to pay for much of the clean-up but no one in the government is willing to say that the company was responsible for causing the mudflow. Political analysts and government officials say the dilemma facing Mr Yudhoyono is that he does not want to alienate a crucial supporter but he cannot afford to let Mr Bakrie off the hook.

    “The result is that he has been indecisive and the people on the ground are suffering the consequences,” says an official involved in disaster management. “When elite interests are involved, they always seem to take priority over tackling the core of the problem.”

    Virtually all affected residents have received money for rent and monthly allowances from Lapindo. But only a few dozen have begun to receive compensation promised by Lapindo.

    Khairul Huda, a university lecturer who has helped co-ordinate the response in one village, says the frustration over the slow disbursement of money has grown to a point where demonstrations have become regular.

    “The problem is the political will of the government and Lapindo. It’s just not there,” he says. “We don’t know whether there’s an elite conspiracy or not. We just know we’re not getting our money.”

    Despite the scale of the destruction, Mr Yudhoyono has yet officially to declare the mudflow a disaster. Central government aid has been limited and non-governmental organisations have established only token presences. There has also been little progress in the prosecution of those responsible for the drilling mishap. It took the police nine months to complete their investigation but the case has yet to go to trial. Conspicuously, only individual employees and contractors, not the company, are being probed as suspects.

     John Aglionby 

    © Financial Times

  • Slimy business; Java’s unstoppable mudflow

    FARMERS tilling the fields of Java, the world’s most populous island, have long known that the gods give and they take away. Java’s volcanic soil is astonishingly fertile but, like the rest of Indonesia, alarmingly prone to seismic activity. An earthquake that struck the eastern island of Sumbawa on November 25th killed at least three people.

    But the calamity that has befouled a swathe of semi-industrial farmland in east Java was, by most accounts, a man-made mess. In May last year Lapindo Brantas, an energy company, was drilling for natural gas when it accidentally opened a fissure in the ground. Torrents of hot, toxic mud began to flow. It has been flowing ever since, inundating 11 villages and swamping schools, factories, farms and roads in a 2.5 square mile (6.5 square km) zone. A network of earthen dams and levees holds back a lake of oily grey muck. Some is being pumped into a river and out to sea, despite the risk of contamination from heavy metals and chemicals in the mud.

    Efforts to staunch the flow have ranged from the ambitious to the ludicrous. Hundreds of concrete balls linked by steel cables were air-dropped into the hole, to no good effect. A group of Javanese mystics, offered a cash reward by local authorities to plug the abyss using supernatural powers, fared no better. Various experts have offered advice on how to divert or disrupt the volcano, which has spewed out an estimated 1 billion cubic feet (28m cubic metres) of mud. Japanese scientists have proposed building a 130-foot (40-metre) dam, reasoning that the weight of the exposed mud, which hardens as it dries, would eventually stem the flow. Nobody knows if or when it would stop of its own accord.

    A hand-painted banner across an abandoned strip of toll-road offers its own succinct formula: “Lapindo + Government = Madness”. Many are angry at the government’s sluggish response to the disaster, which has displaced some 16,000 people. Hundreds are still living in a makeshift camp. The local economy has collapsed. Factories and farms have been inundated, and the vital toll-road to the port of Surabaya closed. To ease the appalling traffic a military airport in Malang, a town to the south, has opened to civilian flights.

    Apportioning blame for the disaster has been tricky. Lapindo argued the mudflow was caused by an earthquake that struck central Java two days earlier, a theory pooh-poohed by most geologists. After much dithering, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia’s president, ordered the company to pay $412m to the afflicted. But inundated villagers get just 20% now, and the rest within two years.

    Mr Yudhoyono may be influenced by Lapindo’s majority shareholder, the diversified family-owned Bakrie Group. At the time of the disaster, its patriarch, Aburizal Bakrie, was the economics supremo in Mr Yudhoyono’s cabinet, having backed his presidential campaign in 2004. Mr Bakrie described the mudflow as a natural disaster that “nothing can prevent”. Perhaps to escape liability, his group tried to sell Lapindo to obscure offshore buyers. But Indonesian regulators blocked the sale. Mr Bakrie has since moved, with no intended irony, to the post of co-ordinating minister for public welfare.

    © The Economist

  • Two Years On, a Mud Volcano Still Rages and Bewilders

    As a disastrous mud eruption on Indonesia’s Java Island marks its second anniversary, the unprecedented event continues to stir debate about whether it resulted from an exploratory gas well drilling accident or a distant earthquake and how long it will last. The mud volcano, nicknamed Lusi, has been disgorging mud at a rate of up to 150,000 cubic meters per day. Officials are struggling to contain the effluent within dikes that are regularly breached and built anew farther out.

    In November 2006, ground deformation near the volcano ruptured a natural gas pipeline, killing 13 people. Lusi’s mud has engulfed 750 hectares, destroying the homes of more than 30,000 people as well as factories and farms. “Sadly, it’s not about simple technical problems anymore. It’s more [about] economic and social and political problems,” says Satria Bijaksana, a geophysicist at Institut Teknologi Bandung.

    Lapindo Brantas, the oil and gas exploration company that operated the ill-starred gas well, and the government have promised compensation to landowners, but it has been slow in coming. Hundreds of families are still living in temporary shelters. In two separate cases, Indonesian courts have ruled the eruption a natural disaster, absolving Lapindo Brantas of liability.

    Ivan Valentina Agung, a lawyer for Walhi, an Indonesian environmental group that filed one of the suits, says the group is appealing to a higher court in hopes of getting Lapindo Brantas to take responsibility for environmental rehabilitation.

    For scientists, Lusi is an intriguing specimen. A flurry of papers refines previous work on the eruption’s dynamics and offers insights into the evolution of mud volcanoes. “This is a great opportunity. Nobody knows how other mud volcanoes looked when they were first appearing,” says Adriano Mazzini, a geologist at the University of Oslo.

    There is general agreement on the sequence of events. On 27 May 2006 at 5:54 a.m. local time, a magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck near Yogyakarta, in central Java. Between 5 and 8 a.m. the following day, Lapindo Brantas’s gas well, which was being drilled 250 kilometers to the east near the town of Sidoarjo, began to flood. Workers shut the well’s blowout preventer to keep the fluid from gushing out the top. They noted that pressure inside the well rose rapidly before gradually subsiding. Early in the morning of 29 May, mud began burbling out of the ground about 150 meters away.

    In a February 2007 article in GSA Today, Richard Davies, a geologist at the University of Durham, U.K., and colleagues claimed that the drillers penetrated a porous limestone formation about 2800 meters below the surface, inadvertently tapping into a highly pressurized aquifer. The borehole’s casing didn’t extend deep enough to protect rock from cracking under the pressure when the blowout preventer was shut, he concluded. Water then channeled its way to the surface, bringing mud with it (Science, 2 February 2007, p. 586).

    That’s not how Mazzini and his colleagues see it. In the 30 September 2007 issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters, they argued that the region’s geological structures, pressurized hydrocarbon deposits, common in the region, and a seismic fault created conditions “perfect for a mud volcano.” The only thing missing was a trigger, Mazzini says. The drilling might have contributed, he says, but he believes a more important factor was that the Yogyakarta earthquake reactivated the fault. At roughly the same time Lusi broke, mud also erupted from eight fissures along a 100-kilometer stretch of the fault line. “I don’t think this is a coincidence,” he says.

    Global Positioning System (GPS) data and an obvious kink in a rail line show that ground along the fault has shifted up to half a meter since the Yogyakarta earthquake. But Michael Manga, a geologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who has studied how earthquakes trigger distant volcanic eruptions, contends that the quake was too small and too far away from the fault to influence it. In recent decades, he says, “there were many earthquakes that were both closer and bigger and by any measure more likely to have triggered an eruption.”

    In a paper published online on 5 June in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Manga, Davies, and colleagues suggest that the fault is likely to be shifting in response to the movement of vast amounts of material to the surface. The mechanism is not clear. Co-author Rudi Rubiandini, a petroleum engineer at the Institut Teknologi Bandung, says the analysis “makes every other reason [for the eruption] impossible.” Most earth scientists agree that the well must have had some effect, says James Mori, a seismologist at Kyoto University in Japan. But he says researchers can’t determine whether the volcano would have formed without the drilling.

    While sympathizing with Lusi’s victims, geologists say they relish the rare opportunity to study a mud volcano’s birth and evolution. GPS and satellite-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar data indicate that the surface near the volcano’s vent is collapsing into a funnel shape, characteristic of sand draining from the top bulb of an hourglass. Davies and colleagues concluded in a paper published online on 21 May in Environmental Geology that between June 2006 and September 2007, the funnel’s center sank at about 4 centimeters per day, which in 3 years would produce a sag of 44 meters. They also report that areas outside the funnel are rising, probably due to movement of the fault.

    Scientists are puzzling over other phenomena as well. Since March 2007, the flow has periodically stopped for hours or days only to resume with its previous vigor. The likely explanation, Davies says, is that the weight of mud at the surface is collapsing the vent deep underground. Pressure backs up until it breaks through the blockage. In addition, there have been 88 minieruptions of water and methane where the ground is subsiding. Rubiandini believes the subsidence is cracking open pressurized gas pockets. And along the fault, geysers of water have suddenly shot up in the middle of yards, rice paddies, and even within factories, probably due to the rearrangement of subsurface plumbing.

    “The volcano is taking on a life of its own,” Davies says. How long this will go on, he says, is anybody’s guess.

    Unstoppable

    The mud volcano Lusi is unique in its longevity and the volume of material ejected. It may also be setting records for the number or failed attempts to plug it. Immediately after the 29 May 2006 eruption, Lapindo Brantas., the company whose exploratory drilling, some claim, triggered the eruption, pumped concrete into the well to try to stop the gush of hot, salty water from a subsurface aquifer. When that failed, the company brought in a consultant from Houston, Texas, who directed the drilling of two relief wells intended to intercept the original borehole and pump in high density drilling mud to plug the leak. This effort was abandoned when the wells were short of their target, also, reportedly, because Lapindo ran out of money.

    In February 2007, following a proposal from geophysicist Satria Bijaksana and two colleagues from Institut Teknologi Bandung, Lapindo Brantas started dropping into the vent clusters of concrete balls, 20 centimeters and 40 centimeters in diameter, roped together with steel cables. The objective, Bijaksana says, was “to reduce the sheer volume of mud coming out of the vent to a manageable level.” This effort was abandoned after 398 of a planned 1000 clusters had been dropped; a government agency that took over management of the disaster concluded that the balls were having little effect.

    The only hope of plugging Lusi is to drill another relief well to plug the original well at a point below where it was breached, says Rudi Rubiandini, a petroleum engineer at Institut Teknologi Bandung. He estimates that the well would cost $70 t0 $100 million. But that is unlikely to happen, he says: “Our government now thinks this is a natural disaster and impossible to kill.”

    Dennis Normile

  • Lapindo Blamed for Mudflow in East Java

    A two-year-old mud volcano in East Java that has submerged six villages, displaced 12,000 families and inundated hundreds of hectares of land, was caused by drilling negligence rather than natural causes, according to new research by British and US academics.

    The research, seen by the Financial Times, provide the most conclusive findings to date that Lapindo Brantas, the oil and gas company drilling an exploratory well 150m from the eruption site, triggered the mudflow on May 29 2006. The mud is still flowing at more than 100,000 cubic metres a day – enough to fill 53 Olympic swimming pools.

    Lapindo, which has seen the report, acknowledges it made significant mistakes less than a day before the eruption, but says these had no bearing on the subsequent mudflow. It says the incident was a natural disaster caused by tectonic activity unsealing a geological fault close to the drill site.

    The political fallout for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at legislative and presidential elections could be significant if prosecutors proceed to court and Lapindo is found liable.

    The government agreed to share the multi-billion dollar clean-up costs with Lapindo, which is owned by the family of Aburizal Bakrie, the chief welfare minister.

    Geologists Richard Davies of Britain’s Durham University and Michael Manga of the University of California at Berkeley in the US said they were “98 percent certain” that Lapindo was responsible. “In geology you can rarely be 100 per cent certain about anything,” Dr Davies said. “There are so many unlikely coincidences – Lapindo was either the unluckiest drilling company anywhere in the world ever, or they caused the disaster.”

    The academics concluded that the disaster began with the drilling crew’s failure to detect for 90 minutes a “massive” influx of water and gas, known as a kick, into the 2,834m-deep drilling hole the day before the eruption. They say that by the time the hole had been closed to contain the kick, the pressure in the hole had risen so much that it exceeded the maximum allowable pressure and the sides fractured.

    Lapindo acknowledges that its personnel failed to detect the kick promptly, but says that the pressure in the bore never exceeded the maximum allowable.

    The company points to a 5.9-magnitude earthquake 250km to the south-west on May 27 as evidence of tectonic activity occurring at the time, suggesting that it opened the Watukosek fault, on which the drill site was located.

    “We’re trying to look for answers for what happened,” said Bambang Istadi, Lapindo’s former exploration manager and now the Bakrie Group’s senior vice-president for technical services.

    Dr Manga said there was no evidence of an escalation of tectonic activity over the previous year, that bigger earthquakes nearer the eruption site had not caused mud eruptions and that the fault would have been more likely to close than open, based on the way the Earth’s plates moved to cause the Yogyakarta earthquake.

    Separately, an unpublished analysis carried out for the Indonesian police and seen by the FT points to potentially crucial errors in Lapindo’s pressure calculations.

    Harry Eddyarso, who has 25 years of worldwide drilling experience, was commissioned by the Indonesian police to analyse the data submitted by the companies involved in the drilling.

    “I’m 100 per cent certain Lapindo is to blame,” he said. “They made one mistake after another.” The police have publicly accused Lapindo of responsibility for the mud slide but prosecutors have declined to proceed to court, citing reports from scientists who have attributed the mud flow to natural causes.

    Last year the Bakrie Group bought the 32 percent stake in Lapindo owned by Medco Energi, Indonesia’s largest private energy company, in exchange for Medco withdrawing arbitration proceedings against Lapindo.

    The government said last week it was focusing on cleaning up the mess and helping the victims.

    John Anglionby 

    © Financial Times