EAST JAVA MUDFLOW UPDATE: SOME REFUGEES RESETTLED WHILE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SURABAYA 000085 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EB/ESC/IEC DEPT FOR DS/IP/EAP USDOC FOR 4430 DOE FOR CUTLER/PI-32 AND NAKANO/PI-42 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ENIV EPET ENRG SENV PGOV ID SUBJECT: EAST JAVA MUDFLOW UPDATE: SOME REFUGEES RESETTLED WHILE SUBSIDENCE COULD CREATE MORE REF: SURABAYA 29 (LAPINDO PR EFFORTS) SURABAYA 00000085 001.2 OF 002 This message is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: With the mudflow disaster now entering its third year, legal and political controversy in Jakarta surrounding the causes of the mudflow has not abated, despite an increasingly sophisticated PR campaign by the holding company thought responsible for the disaster. On the ground in East Java, hundreds of families have been resettled, however compensation and eventual resettlement of thousands of other refugees hinges on various compensation schemes. At the epicenter itself, the struggle to hold back the mud continues. Increasing ground subsidence is becoming a more obvious threat to area buildings and infrastructure as villages outside the original disaster area show increasing geyser activity. A U.S. company is reportedly planning to tap the mudflow as a source of geothermal power. End Summary. Law, Government, still bogged down -------------- - ¶2. (SBU) Indonesian Police Chief General Sutanto has complained to media about the progress of the investigation into the mudflow. Sutanto said that the case continues to be passed to the Prosecutor's office only to be returned to the Police for more investigation. The Police have already declared at least 11 people culpable in this case and believe that the mudflow was caused by a drilling failure. However, prosecutors claim they are still looking for strong evidence that can prove that the mudflow was caused by Lapindo's drilling. As yet there is little help coming from Jakarta. Minister of the Environment Rachmat Witoelar appeared before the National Commission on Human Rights on July 14, but offered little hope of sanctions or assistance coming from his ministry. As for enforcement in this case, the role of the Environment Ministry is merely to assist East Java Police in their investigation, according to Witoelar. Stepping up its efforts to highlight the mudflow, the Commission announced plans to call Coordinating Minister for Welfare and former owner of Lapindo Aburizal Bakrie for questioning on stalled compensation for victims on July 16. Bakrie created a press event of his own at Sidoarjo by visiting the relocated victims at a housing complex near the disaster. Lapindo Buys a Newspaper -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Favorable stories in the Surabaya Post surrounding the resettlement of mudflow victims followed that paper's purchase by the former owners of the Lapindo company, the Bakrie Group. While many local papers have been carrying positive stories about the payment of compensation, this purchase by Bakrie seems part of a wider, long-term media strategy aimed at shaping public perception about the mudflow (reftel). The masthead of the paper lists two officers of PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya. The Chairman of the paper's board, Andi Darussalam, is responsible for the payment of compensation to mudflow victims and is frequently quoted in the press regarding the process. Subsidence -------------- ¶4. (SBU) During a July 17 visit to the mudflow epicenter, Congen Surabaya confirmed that increased subsidence is an emerging threat to villages still untouched by the mudflow. Sidoarjo Mud Management Agency (BPLS) Site Safety Coordinator Mr. Doddy Irmawan told us that dike walls around the mud epicenter have yet to reach the maximum allowable height of 16 meters above the ground's surface, although if calculated based on what has been added thus far the dike should stand some 40 meters high. We learned that new earth added to the top of the dikes simply adds height to a quickly subsiding dike system now dropping an average of 10-15 centimeters a day in some areas. This creates a need for a constant parade of soil-filled dump trucks to keep the dike from sinking below the level of the mud lagoon it contains. The mud disposal effort has run into trouble too, as the first spillway built to pump mud into the Porong River has been totally blocked by mud. Now backhoes (which float on the hot mud using custom built pontoons) clear channels for the mud so that it will flow to a new set of SURABAYA 00000085 002.2 OF 002 spillway pipes down river. BPLS workers were uncertain how long this channel will operate, or if a new one will have to be made. More Geysers Emerge -------------- ¶5. (SBU) A cluster of three very powerful geysers have emerged about one kilometer west of the mudflow in Pamotan village. Geysers of all sizes are common within a kilometer of the epicenter due to subsidence and increasing pressures on water deep beneath the surface. These large methane- and hydrogen-sulfide-bearing gas and water geysers are the furthest from the mudflow epicenter yet. One 15-meter geyser has erupted behind a functioning ice plant. Iramawan of BPLS told us that ammonia contained in the plant's refrigeration system could be released if sudden subsidence were to occur beneath it. While mud can be blocked and channeled on the surface, subsidence is a much more difficult and unpredictable problem for local residents and BPLS. Refugee Resettlement and Compensation -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) While the area affected by the disaster slowly widens, some refugees have finally received long-promised new homes. While good news for recipients, Andi Darussalam, the Vice President of PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, the holding company compensating the victims, asserted that cash and resettlement schemes are only for specific refugees. Those without proof they belong to the group are ineligible. Refugees in temporary quarters in Porong Market are finally ready to leave the makeshift camp after reaching agQment with Minarak Lapindo Jaya on July 8. Refugee representatives reportedly agreed to leave the market after receiving a cash down payment and rent subsidy. However hundreds of people from Siring, Jatirejo, and Renokenogo Villages are skeptical of compensation plans and insist on full cash compensation and refuse to accept a down payment and a promise of later resettlement. The national government has reentered active discussion of refugee issues after a long silence. President Yudhoyono appears poised to sign revised Presidential Regulation 14/2008, which adds Besuki, Pejarakan, and Kedungcangkring villages to the list of those officially impacted by the mudflow. Infrastructure Still TBD -------------- ¶7. (SBU) It is still unclear when East Java's main north-south road and railway -- both threatened by the mudflow -- will be relocated. Portions of the north-south toll road have already been destroyed by mud. Sidoarjo Regent, Win Hendrarso, told local reporters on June 26 that talks between landowners and the government have stalled. There has been no agreement between the government and the landowners as to which land would be used and how much would be paid. The head of BPLS Major General (Ret.) Sunarso told local media that the land acquisition issue might be solved by 2009 or 2010. Is There Power in Mud? -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Local media described plans for U.S. energy company Vlocity Holdings to use the mudflow as a source of geothermal power. Dr. Taswin Tarib, the CEO of Vlocity, presented a feasibility study of the power plant to Vice President's Jusuf Kalla's special assistants on July 8. Taswin said that he has negotiated with the owner of geothermal projects about this project which requires an investment of USD 5.2 billion and will have a capacity of nearly 2,000 Megawatts. Taswin told reporters that electricity will be produced by four vertical tunnels. Similar tunneling technology has reportedly been applied in Arizona and Germany. Vlocity will import a Sirex Vertical Construction Machine from the U.S. Funding for this project will be from Sirex PHS (U.S.),Turbo Jack (Germany),and foreign banks. Details regarding the precise method of constructing the facility on site were not provided to the media. MCCLELLAND