Jakarta, NU Online
Residents of Sidoardjo, East Java, filed a judicial review with the Supreme Court on Tuesday against the 2007 presidential decree establishing the Sidoardjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency, particularly Article 15 on the procurement of land and property affected by the mud.
Coordinator of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation team representing the residents, Taufik Basari, said the article in question violated the 1960 Agrarian Law.<>
The article obliges PT Lapindo Brantas, the company at the center of the mudflow in Sidoarjo, to purchase residents' land and buildings affected by the disaster.
"The Agrarian Law does not allow a company, like Lapindo, to own the state's land," Taufik told reporters at the Supreme Court.
"Also, the (presidential) decree misinterprets the concept of compensation for the mudflow victims, seeing it merely as a matter of procuring the land and buildings," he said.
Taufik said the mudflow not only caused residents to suffer material losses, but non-material losses as well.
He said Lapindo should be responsible for all the losses residents had suffered as a result of the mudflow.
"They have lost their jobs and their sources of income. Also, they can no longer enjoy decent facilities such as clean water because of the mudflow," he said.
Taufik said the presidential decree protected the interests of Lapindo more than it did those of the residents of Sidoarjo.
"This regulation has forced people with no bargaining position to deal with a big company like Lapindo," he said.
He also criticized the sixth paragraph of Article 15, which stipulates that Lapindo can compensate the victims in stages, only having to pay 20 percent of the compensation up front.
"That 20 percent payment cannot help people restart their lives after being affected by the mudflow," Taufik said.
Abi, 39, a representative of the Sidoardjo residents, said very few people had even received this 20 percent payment.
"Many of us have registered to receive the payment, but the company has not paid us yet," he said.
Abi said residents were having trouble providing all the documents required by the company to qualify for compensation because most of their papers had been lost when the mud inundated their homes.
Taufik also criticized the third paragraph of Article 15, which stipulates that Lapindo only has to compensate residents within the affected area as of March 22, 2007, while the mudflow has continued to grow.
"Many more villages have been affected by the mudflow, like Besuki, Kedungcankring and Mindi," Taufik was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying.
He hopes the Supreme Court will strike the article from the presidential decree.
"We actually hope the President will review the decree on his own initiative, because that will make the process easier and faster," he said. (dar)
Residents of Sidoardjo, East Java, filed a judicial review with the Supreme Court on Tuesday against the 2007 presidential decree establishing the Sidoardjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency, particularly Article 15 on the procurement of land and property affected by the mud.
Coordinator of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation team representing the residents, Taufik Basari, said the article in question violated the 1960 Agrarian Law.<>
The article obliges PT Lapindo Brantas, the company at the center of the mudflow in Sidoarjo, to purchase residents' land and buildings affected by the disaster.
"The Agrarian Law does not allow a company, like Lapindo, to own the state's land," Taufik told reporters at the Supreme Court.
"Also, the (presidential) decree misinterprets the concept of compensation for the mudflow victims, seeing it merely as a matter of procuring the land and buildings," he said.
Taufik said the mudflow not only caused residents to suffer material losses, but non-material losses as well.
He said Lapindo should be responsible for all the losses residents had suffered as a result of the mudflow.
"They have lost their jobs and their sources of income. Also, they can no longer enjoy decent facilities such as clean water because of the mudflow," he said.
Taufik said the presidential decree protected the interests of Lapindo more than it did those of the residents of Sidoarjo.
"This regulation has forced people with no bargaining position to deal with a big company like Lapindo," he said.
He also criticized the sixth paragraph of Article 15, which stipulates that Lapindo can compensate the victims in stages, only having to pay 20 percent of the compensation up front.
"That 20 percent payment cannot help people restart their lives after being affected by the mudflow," Taufik said.
Abi, 39, a representative of the Sidoardjo residents, said very few people had even received this 20 percent payment.
"Many of us have registered to receive the payment, but the company has not paid us yet," he said.
Abi said residents were having trouble providing all the documents required by the company to qualify for compensation because most of their papers had been lost when the mud inundated their homes.
Taufik also criticized the third paragraph of Article 15, which stipulates that Lapindo only has to compensate residents within the affected area as of March 22, 2007, while the mudflow has continued to grow.
"Many more villages have been affected by the mudflow, like Besuki, Kedungcankring and Mindi," Taufik was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying.
He hopes the Supreme Court will strike the article from the presidential decree.
"We actually hope the President will review the decree on his own initiative, because that will make the process easier and faster," he said. (dar)
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