Home Infrastructure Considerance Govt to asks for additional Rp600 B for Sidoarjo infrastructure rehabilitation

Govt to asks for additional Rp600 B for Sidoarjo infrastructure rehabilitation

Thursday, 28 June 2007

(Originally published by Antara in June 27, 2007) Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will propose an additional budget of Rp500 billion to Rp600 billion for the construction of infrastructure that had been damaged by the mudflow of Lapindo Brantas mining company in Sidoarjo, East Java. "The government has made a request (to the House of Representatives) for additional budget of Rp 500 billion to Rp 600 billion for the rehabilitation damaged infrastructure," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said at a socialization of the proper management of government accounts at the different ministries and agencies, here on Wednesday. The minister said that the additional funds would be proposed by the Public Works Ministry through the 2007 revised state budget. "The funds are for damaged infrastructure rehabilitation. The budget implementation list (DIPA) is in the hand of the Minister of Public Works," she said. Mulyani said that based on Presidential Decree No. 14/ 2007 on the Sidoarjo Mudflow Handling Agency (BPLS), the government was responsible for the repair and rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure which affected the people`s life and the national economy such as roads and railway tracks. "Because of flooding and bing covered by mud, the infrastructure like roads and rail tracks can no longer function, and have to be rehabilitated or relocated. As it now has entered the year 2007, we will propose an additional budget allocation in the revised 2007 state budget to the House of Representatives (DPR) through the Public Works Ministry," the finance minister said. On the occasion the minister also said that the government would not bail out compensation funds for the mudflow victims. "There is no bail out fund," she added. Previously, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would not lend money for paying compensations to the victims of mudflow from PT Lapindo Brantas operations in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java. "Actually there has been an idea of the government to lend money, but it would no longer be necessary, because PT Lapindo Brantas is able to make the payments," he said at a press conference after a meeting to discuss the handling of the disaster. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment Add Comment Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved.