It started with tears and anger from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and high expectations from victims of the mudflow disaster and those who care about them. But it ended full of disappointment.
When the President cried Sunday with a group of victims, then called a Cabinet meeting on Monday and flew to Surabaya later in the day, camping there for two nights, people had high expectations the President would come up with a breakthrough to the mudflow problem. He did not.
Yudhoyono only ordered Lapindo Brantas Inc., the company at the center of the disaster, to speed up compensation payments to the thousands of displaced people in Sidoarjo, East Java.
That's disappointing for two reasons. The President's orders have no legal consequence. What if Lapindo does not heed the order or what if it cannot meet the deadline? Will the government penalize Lapindo financially or will Yudhoyono send company executives to jail?
Second, continuously pitting the suffering victims against Lapindo, a company they passionately hate, is an irresponsible act on the part of the government. People's anger toward Lapindo is beyond words because to them, Lapindo not only flooded their properties with mud, but also took away their livelihoods.
Equally, asking Lapindo to face the thousands of angry victims is not fair for the gas company, whose fault in this disaster has not been proven. The compensation itself is complicated because many of the victims do not have proper proof of ownership for their property.
So, it would be rational for the government to take over the compensation for the victims, and then charge Lapindo later for the costs. Yet, the government does not want to take on that responsibility.
True, taking over compensation payments for victims from Lapindo would be a potentially politically explosive move, because many politicians would see it as the government bankrolling Lapindo.
If we look at the whole affair surrounding the mudflow crisis, all the problems stem from a serious lack of credibility. The government's handling of the disaster lacks credibility because there is a serious conflict of interest there.
The conflict of interest lies here: Lapindo Brantas is or was owned by a company controlled by the Bakrie family. Aburizal Bakrie, a key member of the Bakrie family, is coordinating minister for people's welfare, who in theory is responsible for taking care of the victims.
Because of this conflict of interest, Aburizal cannot perform his duty properly. That Aburizal has never visited the victims, not even joining the President on his two trips to Sidoarjo, shows he carries a serious handicap in carrying out his ministerial duties.
The fact that Yudhoyono has kept Aburizal in the Cabinet, despite the blatant conflict of interest, even protecting him by not exposing him to the handling of mudflow problems, has led many to believe that Yudhoyono cannot afford to lose the support of this former businessman. There is much suspicion that Yudhoyono badly needs Aburizal's financial support for his reelection bid in 2009.
Allowing such a conflict of interest to remain unresolved is bad for both Yudhoyono and Aburizal, and most of all for the handling of the mudflow problem, because any government action will continue to lack credibility. This will only ease the path for lawmakers in the House of Representatives to proceed with their effort to censure the President over this affair.
To resolve the conflict of interest, Yudhoyono needs to take bold action and remove close ally Aburizal from the Cabinet. Or, if that is too embarrassing, Aburizal should come forward and tender his resignation, and do the noble thing and take responsibility for helping the victims in Sidoarjo.
When the conflict of interest is resolved, government efforts to solve the mudflow affair will regain credibility. The President can then face the possible House censure in a more dignified manner and possibly his popularity will improve; Aburizal can spend the rest of his life devoted to a better cause; and most of all, the displaced people in Sidoarjo will have new hope. ( The Jakarta Post )
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