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Hot mud that has been flowing from a gas well in Sidoarjo,
East Java, since May 29 breached a dam Thursday morning, forcing
thousands of more people from their homes.
Later in the day Vice President Jusuf Kalla led an emergency meeting to
discuss the continuing environmental and human disaster.
The dam, which was built to contain the mud and keep it from nearby
villages, was breached for a second time at around 9 a.m. This comes
days after the local turnpike operator declared the toll road linking
East Java towns to the provincial capital Surabaya had to be closed for
a third time because of the mud. The operator said the turnpike would
be closed indefinitely.
Some 20 train departures were canceled and two main roads were blocked
as residents used all manner of vehicles, including tractors and
bulldozers, to flee villages in Porong district.
An estimated 12,000 people have now been forced from their homes by the
mudflow. The company that drilled the well for its gas operations,
Lapindo Brantas Inc., continues to publish advertorials in newspapers
claiming it is doing all it can to stem the flow of mud.
Schools and homes have been inundated up to their roofs. Residents were
sent into a panic Thursday when, as one villager described, the mudflow
"all of a sudden rushed toward us".
Another resident of Siring village, Bambang, said his mobile phone
continued to ring with people asking about the safety of family and
neighbors.
"I ran as fast as I could to save my wife and child. Everyone was in a
panic, as if there was a tsunami. In minutes my home was under mud, as
were my neighbors' homes," he told The Jakarta Post.
"We don't want to live here anymore. We ask Lapindo to buy our land and
homes," Bambang said.
Having earlier ordered the evacuation of more than 8,000 residents,
Kalla on Thursday ordered the relocation of all remaining residents in
the area, said Sidoarjo Regent Win Hendrarso after the meeting in
Jakarta.
State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar earlier said the
government planned to build a larger dam to contain the mud. He also
expressed caution over a proposal by Lapindo to channel the mud into
the sea.
"We wouldn't be able to control the flow," he said.
The new dam, to be located near the existing embankment, is planned as
a temporary measure while more permanent ways of dealing with the mud
spewing from the well are explored, he said.
"The mud will eventually be processed so it is less hazardous to
people. This is the only plan we currently have," Rachmat said.
A report by the State Ministry for the Environment says many of the
elements contained in the mud are highly toxic and hazardous.
However, Rachmat said the mud was safe enough to be used in making roof
tiles, for example. Some residents have already started making bricks
from the mud.
An executive and a number of employees of Lapindo have been detained by
police on charges of violating environmental laws. The firm is partly
owned by the family of Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare
Aburizal Bakrie.
To date, the mud has covered some 210 hectares of land in Sidoarjo.
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