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Security guards, protesters clash in sidoarjo, several injured Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Sidoarjo Several people were injured in a clash between thousands of protesters and security personnel following a ceremony for the soft launch of a housing development for Lapindo mudflow victims in the East Java town of Sidoarjo on Saturday. The ceremony turned violent when thousands of mudflow victims protested the plan by Lapindo Brantas, the company at the center of the mudflow, to construct housing for them. They have demanded Lapindo be held responsible for the mudflow. They want financial compensation for their submerged land and other assets, not housing. Witnesses said the clash occurred after protesters forced their way onto the planned location for the housing development, where thousands of riot police had been deployed. The protesters destroyed equipment belonging to PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya -- a subsidiary of Lapindo which has been contracted to develop the housing -- prompting security personnel to forcibly disperse the crowd. The housing is to be developed by Lapindo's main stakeholder, the Bakrie Group, and handed over to mudflow victims, who have yet to receive 80 percent of the compensation money the mining company has promised to pay. Lapindo previously paid 20 percent of the promised compensation almost two years after the leakage of hot mud from the company's mining site inundated the area in May, 2005. Minarak vice president Andy Darussalam said his company had no intention to force the mudflow victims to relocate to the new housing. He also denied the construction of the housing was aimed at relocating them. "This is purely a business offer; we're not forcing the mudflow victims to relocated to the housing. Each house has its own price and mudflow victims can buy the houses with the remaining 80 percent of compensation money," he said. Approximately 800 families affected by the mudflow have already agreed to buy houses at the location, he said. "Lapindo will pay all of the compensation money as instructed by the President as soon as possible. Mudflow victims that have yet to receive the down payment of 20 percent will receive it by Feb. 13, while the remaining 80 percent will be paid in May," he said. About 2 percent of the total 10,277 families affected by the Sidoarjo mudflow have yet to receive the down payment of 20 percent. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed Lapindo to pay compensation totaling Rp 3.5 trillion (approximately US$380 million) to the mudflow victims. Besides having yet to receive compensation money from Lapindo, the mudflow victims have yet to receive the Rp 10 billion ($1.06 million) pledged by the President. Some of that money is to be used to provide Rp 500,000 in cash to each of the mudflow victims. The remainder is to be used for local development projects focusing on community empowerment, capital strengthening and social donations. A coordinator for mudflow victims in Pasar Baru Porong, Sunarto, said 897 families had yet to receive the Rp 500,000 from the pledged Rp 10 billion. Meanwhile, for a fifth time the East Java Prosecutor's Office has rejected pleas to investigate the mudflow case due to a "lack of evidence". East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Herman Sumawiredja said the police have experienced difficulties in investigating the Lapindo case. printer friendly Post Your Comments Comments could also be sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
