Besuki Timur residents hope to be included in mudflow affected areas
Sidoarjo (ANTARA News)- Hundreds of Besuki Timur residents in Jabon subdistrict, Sidoarjo district, East Java, staged a rally on Saturday on the bridge of Gempol Porong road, asking the government to include their village in the mudflow affected areas.
The Besuki Timur (Eastern Besuki) residents staged their protest because the government will only include Besuki Barat (Western Besuki) as the mudflow affected area, some demonstrators said.
Three villages, Besuki, Kedungcangkring and Pejarakan would receive the compensation from the government.
The government decided to stick to Presidential Regulation No.14/2007 regarding the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigating Agency (BPLS) stipulating that compensation for the victims whose areas have been mapped as the mudflow affected locations will be tackled by PT Lapindo Brantas Inc, but compensation for those living outside the locations will be the government`s responsibility.
“The government should not conduct discriminative measure, we also have the right to receive financial compensation,” Ajip Rosadi, representative of the Besuki Timur residents said during the rally.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said in Jakarta on Thursday (Feb 28) that only 20 percent of the Rp700 billion government budget will be paid to vacate mudflow affected villages by using the revised 2008 state budget.
Another 80 percent will be paid by the government through the next two year-budget, she said, adding that the amount to be paid this year reached only Rp170 billion.
According to her the compensation will be paid after the House of Representatives approved the government`s proposal through the revised 2008 state budget.
Sri Mulyani said the settlement mechanism is in line with the compensation regulation as stipulated in presidential regulation no.14/2007.
The government decided to provide Rp700 billion in compensation for mudflow victims living in the affected areas outside the mapped mudflow affected locations as well as to vacate the three villages.
On Wednesday (Feb 27) President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked East Java governor Imam Utomo, Sidoarjo district head Win Hendarso and the Sidoarjo Mudflow Tackling Body (BPLS) to prepare an action plan soon following a government`s decision on compensation for mud-flow affected villages. (*)
Source: ANTARA News
Add comment March 4th, 2008