Indonesians mark 20 years since mud volcano eruption swallowed up entire communities in East Java
SIDOARJO, Indonesia (AP) — Residents of Indonesia’s East Java province handed out flowers, paid their respects and prayed at the edge of a mud lake Friday, the 20th anniversary of the eruption of the Lusi mud volcano that flooded villages and killed at least 14 people.
According to scientific research, the explosion on May 29, 2006 was most likely triggered by commercial gas drilling by a local exploration company; This contradicted the Indonesian government minister who insisted at the time that it was a natural disaster.
In Sidoarjo’s Porong district, residents gathered to commemorate those killed, and the houses and neighborhoods in which they lived before the boiling mud slowly engulfed them.
For years, experts have been looking for ways to slow the spread of sludge. But all measures taken to stop this, including the construction of dams, failed. The volcano continues to erupt to this day.
Among the 14 dead was a worker who died in August 2006 when the digger he was driving fell off an embankment; The other 13 victims died in November 2006 when an underground gas pipeline under one of the dams exploded.
Tens of thousands of residents were displaced after losing their homes, land, jobs and even the graves of their ancestors.
Sastro, a 55-year-old resident of the area, lost his home and his old job as a factory worker. The factory where he worked was also submerged in mud, as were thousands of other structures in the 572 hectares (more than 1,400 acres) sea of mud.
Twenty years later, he now works as a motorcycle taxi driver, transporting visitors on daily trips to what has become a tourist destination in East Java.
“As far as I can tell, things have gotten really difficult since the Lapindo incident,” said Sastro, who like other Indonesians uses a single name.
Local mining company PT Lapindo Brantas was exploring for gas in the area of the disaster in May 2006.
Then-Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the company to pay $420 million in compensation to villagers who lost their homes and to help the government finance emergency operations.
However, the government later provided emergency financial assistance to compensate the affected victims. Although Lapindo Brantas provided some assistance, it was a very small portion of the total.
Twenty years later, white smoke can be seen rising from the middle of the mud lake, indicating that hot mud continues to come out of the vent. Excavators dredging the bottom of the mud pond have become a common sight.
Aerial photographs show the vent as a small dot in the middle of the mud lake’s vast expanse. This spot marks the vent that caused one of the largest and longest-lasting disasters in Indonesia.
The mudflow affected more than 1,100 hectares (about 2,700 acres) while inundating 19 villages in three subdistricts.
Many survivors still face problems to this day. These include environmental pollution, health and civil registration problems, and the uncertainty of life left in the wake of the disaster, said Lucky Wahyu Wardana of the Indonesian Living Environment Forum (WALHI) in East Java.
“The Lapindo tragedy should be a lesson to the government to stop relying on extractive industries as the cost of the impact far outweighs the benefits.
“Not only lives were lost, but children living in the affected areas also lost their future and faced health problems,” Wardana said. “Moreover, many parents have lost the sense of history of their origins and hometown.”
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Edna Tarigan reported from Jakarta.
