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Viewing cable 07SURABAYA87, EAST JAVA MUDFLOW UPDATE: OPERATIONAL FUNDS DISBURSED;

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07SURABAYA87 2007-12-07 08:41 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Surabaya
VZCZCXRO6039
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJS #0087 3410841
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 070841Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL SURABAYA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0128
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0058
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0056
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0114
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 0131
UNCLAS SURABAYA 000087 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND EB/ESC/IEC 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/EAP 
DOE FOR CUTLER/PI-32 AND NAKANO/PI-42 
COMMERCE FOR USDOC 4430 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ENIV EPET ELAP ENRG PGOV ASEC ID
SUBJECT: EAST JAVA MUDFLOW UPDATE: OPERATIONAL FUNDS DISBURSED; 
VICTIMS PROTEST; HEAVY RAINS BEGIN 
 
REF: Surabaya 80 and previous 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: Members of the Sidoarjo Mud Management Agency 
(BPLS) oversight body visited the site of the mudflow to access 
operations and set a deadline of 2008 for effective mitigation 
of the problems caused by the mud.  The central government 
disbursed Rp 500 Qlion (USD 55 million) to the BPLS to fund 
operations.  Victims of the mud staged peaceful protests in Bali 
and Sidoarjo demanding compensation.  Work on relocation of the 
rail track through Porong began December 3.  The first heavy 
rains in the Surabaya area slowed work at the mudflow site but 
did not cause any breaks in the earthen dams.  End Summary. 
 
BPLS Sets Deadlines, Gets Funds 
----------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) Soffian Hadi, BPLS Mitigation Manager, confirmed to us 
on December 7 that members of the BPLS oversight body had 
visited the site and reviewed the situation in the Porong river 
and surrounding areas.  Contrary to media reports suggesting 
that the oversight body had set a deadline of 2008 to "kill the 
mud," Soffian said that they body had established a deadline of 
2008 to reduce the problems caused by the mudflow.  This 
directive included improving the performance of the system which 
channels mud into the Porong River. 
 
3. (SBU) Soffian added that the central government had disbursed 
Rp 500 billion (USD 55 million) from the state budget for BPLS 
operations December 5.  Soffian noted that, according to 
regulation, these funds could only be used until the end of 
December 2007 -- "of course, we can't do that."  BPLS has 
therefore strongly recommended to Jakarta that BPLS be given 
sufficient time (until April 2008) to use the funding. 
 
Peaceful Protests 
------------------ 
 
4. (SBU) On December 4, 25 victims of the Sidoarjo mudflow 
traveled to Bali to stage a protest at the offices of Medco 
Energy, a Lapindo investor, during the ongoing UN Climate 
Control Conference (COP-13).  According to local police 
contacts, the protestors demanded that Medco Energy also be held 
responsible for the disaster, which they called an environmental 
crime.  The group took several bicycles assigned to Medco Energy 
COP-13 delegates, but the police made no arrests. 
 
5. (U) On December 6, two hundred demonstrators protested at the 
offices of PT Minarak in Sidoarjo demanding their 20% 
compensation payments, according to press reports.  The 
protestors insisted they had submitted all necessary 
documentation supporting their claims in September, but had yet 
to receive any compensQn.  PT Minarak's compensation 
coordinator met with the protestors.  She pledged to pay the 
outstanding compensation claims within two days, assuming all of 
the paperwork was in order. 
 
And the Rains Came Down~. 
--------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU)  Heavy rains came to the Surabaya/Sidoarjo area 
December 3, causing street flooding in the city of Surabaya.   A 
BPLS official told us that the heavy rains had turned access 
roads around the site into mud, slowing down BPLS operations. 
Although the mud ponds were full of water, the earthen dams had 
not experienced any breaches.  BPLS plans to build a new 
drainage ditch running between the containment dams and the 
railway to prevent flooding of the railroad.  BPLS expressed 
confidence that the existing dams' foundations would not be 
undermined by the new drainage ditch despite its proximity.  The 
heavy rain temporarily increased the Porong River's flow to 160 
cubic meters per second, but river sedimentation remains a 
problem. 
 
MCCLELLAND