The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Thu, 04/05/2012
An official document shows that the government will continue allocating more taxpayers’ money until at least 2014 to foot the bill for the mitigation of the mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java.
Although the public has continued to believe that the disaster, which started in 2006, was caused by a mishap in gas exploration by PT Lapindo Brantas, a company controlled by the family of Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, the government insisted that compensation to the mudflow victims would come from the state budget.
The Lapindo mudflow will likely last for years and has now inundated more than five villages and displaced more than 30,000 people.
The 2011 Government Work Plan (RKP) document, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, shows that the government has approved the use of state budget funds to finance the mudflow’s land compensation handled by the government-sanctioned Sidoarjo Mud Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPLS).
For 2012, the government has earmarked an initial amount of Rp 734 billion (US$80.01 million) to pay compensation for 61 hectares of the victims’ land. For 2013, the government expects to spend another Rp 1.1 trillion to purchase 164 hectares and Rp 1.3 trillion for 201.5 hectares in 2014.
Since its inception, the BPLS has spent more than Rp 3 trillion on compensation and infrastructure, an amount comparable to building around 6,000 modest elementary schools in the country’s eastern region.
The 2012 total allocation for the BPLS has also increased from Rp 1.33 trillion to Rp 1.6 trillion after the House of Representatives approved the government’s proposal to revise the 2012 state budget.
Under the revised state budget, the agency is authorized to also cover land compensation for areas even outside those declared as being impacted by the disaster.
The approval was made in a dramatic House plenary session on Saturday when lawmakers finally supported an article to revise the state budget, conditionally allowing the government to raise fuel prices.
In the heated plenary session, President Susilo Bambang Yudho-yono’s Democratic Party managed to save face after nearly losing important supports from coalition parties, thanks to Golkar’s ploy in proposing an additional article as a compromise to the government’s insistence in increasing the fuel price.
Speculation is rife that the increase in the allocation and expanded authority of the BPLS in 2012 was part of a political concession granted to Golkar for its eleventh hour about-face.
Information from the 2011 RKP, however, could mean that the government’s “deal” with Golkar concerning the mudflow is set for a longer period, at least until the 2014 general elections.
Before 2011, Golkar has made several crucial moves to oppose the government, including the 2009 inquiry into the 2008 controversial Bank Century bailout and the 2010 proposal to form another inquiry to probe the country’s graft-ridden taxation system.
“The possibility that the government’s grant for the mudflow management is linked to the 2014 elections is very likely. Yudhoyono may build an alliance with Golkar and rely on the latter’s strong political resources in 2014 simply from the fact that he will be not able to run again,” Uchok Sky Khadafi from the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) said.
“It is a shame that the government has had to put the burden on taxpayers to pay for something that should have been the responsibility of Lapindo. Even worse, the deal might have been made through certain political deals,” he added.
Bambang Soesatyo, an outspoken Golkar member, denied that the earmarks for the BPLS had been part of “political transaction” between his party and the government.
vr 6 apr 2012 - 3:53
