Straits Times 5 Jan 08;
PORONG (INDONESIA) - A MUD volcano on Java that forced more than 15,000 people to abandon their homes in 2006 has breached barriers built to contain it, causing further damage.
Residents in Porong, East Java province, fled from their homes in panic late on Thursday when hot, foul-smelling mud began to flow into the area, covering nearby railway tracks and a main road.
'At least 10 vehicles were buried by one-metre- deep mud, including mine,' said local traffic police chief Andi Yudianto.
Porong is about 20km from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city.
Thousands of homes and factories in an area the size of Toa Payoh have been submerged by hot mud from the volcano since it started to erupt in May 2006.
The disaster occurred about 200m from a gas exploration well operated by PT Lapindo Brantas just two days after an earthquake hit the city of Yogyakarta in Central Java.
There has been a dispute over whether the mud volcano was caused by the well drilling or by the earthquake.
The government has tried several schemes to halt the flow, including dropping giant concrete balls into the crater, but the hot mud continues to spurt out.
A dyke, 10m thick and 5m high, has been built to contain the mudflow.
Mr Ahmad Zulkarnain, a spokesman for a government body managing the mudflow, said it had been unable to reinforce the dyke because no compensation agreement has been made with the owner of the land where the defences are situated.
'We had been worrying about this for some time. It is vulnerable, especially during the rainy season,' he said.
The government ordered energy group Lapindo, which many people blame for the disaster, to pay 3.8 trillion rupiah (S$576 million) in compensation to the victims and to cover the damage.
Thousands of victims have staged frequent street protests, complaining of inadequate compensation.
Lapindo and PT Energi Mega Persada Tbk, which has a stake in Lapindo, dispute the idea that the disaster was caused by the drilling and question whether Lapindo alone should shoulder the cost.
REUTERS
