Home Residents Struggling Angry residents block turnpike over mud flood

Angry residents block turnpike over mud flood

Monday, 12 June 2006

(Originally published by The Jakarta Post in June 12, 2006 and written by ID Nugroho) Hundreds of angry residents of Siring village in East Java blocked the Surabaya-Gempol toll road Sunday to display their unhappiness with hot mud flowing from a PT Lapindo Brantas gas exploration well. Protesters in the village in Sidoarjo regency blocked the road by directing the stream of mud onto it. The residents's anger was sparked by the discovery that a nearby drainage system was unable to accommodate the increasing quantities of mud. Over the last three weeks, the hot mud has inundated 25 hectares of land, including rice fields, factory compounds and residential sites. "If the mud is not directed into the toll road, it will further flood our residential areas, thereby further damaging our lives," said Kusnadi, one of the residents. The villagers' anger got an unsympathetic response from police officers, who ordered them to leave the problem to authorities. A scuffle broke out between residents and police. The villagers also lambasted Sidoarjo Regent Win Hendrarso, who was at the site. The mud leak started on May 29, two days after a powerful earthquake struck Yogyakarta and surrounding areas. The hot mud flow was initially small and was not considered dangerous. The output of mud grew, however, until about 5,000 cubic meters leaked from the well each day. "Frankly, the Sidoarjo regental administration is not able to handle the problem due to difficulties in getting heavy machinery to curb it. The central government will have to lend a hand as soon as possible," Win said. Meanwhile, a number of House members accompanied by executives of BP Migas and PT Lapindo went to the site on Sunday to view the latest conditions. The visit did not appear to result in a clear-cut solution, however, as the legislators seemed unprepared for what they saw. "We still have to coordinate and consolidate to see what we can do," said Dito Ganindito, one of the House members. Dody Hidayat of BP Migas' operational division and Imam Agustin of PT Lapindo did not offer any solutions either. "We are still searching for what is causing the mud flow and how to resolve it," Dody said. A group of experts from the United States and Singapore is scheduled to visit the location soon to help settle the problem. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment Add Comment Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved.