VZCZCXRO2876
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHHM
DE RUEHJS #0029/01 0630936
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030936Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL SURABAYA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0170
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0086
RUEHCAA/GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0157
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 0175
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0031
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0084

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SURABAYA 000029 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, INR/EAP, EB/ESC/IES 
DOE FOR CUTLER/PI-32; AND NAKANO/PI-42 
COMMERCE FOR USDOC 4430 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EPET ENRG PGOV ASEC ID
SUBJECT: EAST JAVA MUDFLOW UPDATE:  FLAMES AND GEYSERS FORM BACKDROP 
TO RENEWED MUDFLOW DEBATE 
 
REF: SURABAYA 27 AND PREVIOUS 
 
SURABAYA 00000029  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
                ¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Geysers and gas flares near the 
mudflow epicenter continue to appear since they first started in 
early February. Sidoarjo Mud Management Agency (BPLS) Spokesman 
Achmad Zulkarnain said that the recent flare-up of burning 
hydrogen sulfide gas on the site of the abandoned Jatirejo fruit 
market occurred only ten meters from the highway and railroad 
linking Surabaya to the eastern part of East Java province. 
Since the beginning of February, geysers, often mixed with 
flammable gases, have appeared in areas previously untouched by 
the mudflow.  National attention has recently refocused on the 
disaster due to debate in the People's Consultative Assembly 
(DPR) over the conclusions of a DPR fact-finding team (TP2LS). 
The team's determination that the disaster was not caused by the 
Lapindo Brantas Corporation caused stark division in the DPR. 
While back in East Java, local protests by residents excluded 
from various compensation schemes continue to stall dike repair 
and snarl local traffic around the site.  End Summary. 
 
                Flaming Geysers 
                ---------------------- 
 
                ¶2.  (SBU) Geysers continue to erupt in villages 
surrounding the mudflow containment.  As of March 3, several new 
geysers have emerged as the result of continuing subsidence near 
the mudflow epicenter.  Gas measurements conducted by BPLS 
showed that hydrogen sulfide levels ranged from 8-35 parts per 
million in the area near the flare-up at the abandoned Jatirejo 
fruit market.  BPLS spokesman Zulkarnain told local media that 
the gas would not have ignited on its own, suggesting that local 
residents were setting the leaks alight.  BPLS Deputy for 
Operations Mr. Soffian Hadi told ConGen Surabaya Pol/Econ 
officer that emergency negotiations with Surabaya's Juanda 
Airport management to provide needed fire fighting equipment 
broke down over the per liter price of flame retardant foam. 
BPLS could not guarantee payment and improvised with wet 
sandbags until Sidoarjo City Fire Department trucks extinguished 
the flames on the 26th. 
 
                Natural Disaster vs. Industrial Accident 
                --------------------------------------------- - 
 
                ¶3.  (SBU) Controversy over the conclusions of a 
DPR-mandated report by the TP2LS team seems to have given 
renewed traction to talk of using a relief-well technique for 
stopping the mudflow.  In turn, this has reenergized debate 
between mud victims, their advocates and Lapindo Brantas, which 
insists that the flow is a natural phenomenon and cannot be 
stopped.  Representative of this renewed sense that the mudflow 
can be "killed" is the "Movement to Shut Off the Lapindo 
Mudflow" (Gerakan Tutup Lumpur Lapindo).  Local media reported 
that its members emerged from a February 28 meeting with the 
Sidoarjo Regent optimistic the mudflow can be stopped -- 
although they estimated that at least USD 50-70 million in 
government funds and donations will be needed to do the job. 
 
                ¶4.  (SBU) While talk of stopping the mudflow has 
gained new life, little has happened to change the parameters of 
the discussion of fair compensation for mudflow victims.  A 
decision by the Indonesian government to pay compensation to 
newly displaced persons from official coffers was criticized by 
the former chair of the People's Consultative Assembly (DPR), 
Amien Rais.  According to local media, Rais wondered why public 
funds are being used to compensate victims of a disaster caused 
by Lapindo Brantas.  Ahmad Zakaria, coordinator of the "Mud 
Victims Movement From Four Villages" (Gerakan Korban Lumpur 
Empat Desa) also criticized the government's decision to use 
government funds as compensation.  "We are victims of Lapindo, 
not a natural disaster, Lapindo should pay," said Zakaria. 
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Aburizal Bakrie, 
(the Bakrie Group once owned Lapindo) shrugged off complaints 
saying that, whatever the source, victims are being compensated, 
and that is what matters.  Bakrie reminded the press that 
Lapindo had been very generous by compensating residents from 
impacted areas, despite the fact that the State Courts of South 
and Central Jakarta decided that the mud disaster was not caused 
by Lapindo Brantas. 
 
                Lapindo PR Offensive 
 
SURABAYA 00000029  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
                --------------------------- 
 
                ¶5.  (SBU)  In reaction to the nationwide uptick in 
attention toward causes of the disaster a "National Symposium on 
Solving the Mud Disaster" was held on February 28 in Surabaya. 
Funded by a new East Java NGO, according to some participants, 
the day-long conference promised an opportunity for input from 
mudflow victims and specialists alike.  The symposium gradually 
devolved into a specialist's debate on the geological 
underpinnings of the disaster, however.  Victims and other 
audience members were largely shut out of the conversation. 
While not explained to the audience, several of the geologists 
at the symposium either worked for Lapindo Brantas, or 
participated in prior research teams organized by the company. 
While the stated intention of the symposium was solving the mud 
disaster, the composition of the symposium's expert panel 
suggests an effort to sway public opinion away from criticism of 
Lapindo Brantas. 
MCCLELLAND