TEMPO.CO, Surabaya – President Joko Widodo has agreed to pay the remaining compensation for Lapindo mud victims in 20 percent of land plots included in the government's map of mud-affected areas.

“The president wants to talk about the solutions to the problem, and the government bought it [the land plots]. It means the government has earmarked funds to purchase the land included in the map of affected areas,” East Java Governor Soekarwo said as quoted in a release from the province’s communications and protocol division on Friday, December 19, 2014.

The government will provide a loan of Rp781 million to PT Minarak Lapindo Brantas to pay the compensation to mud victims—the funds stem from the 2015 Revised State Budget. The government is giving Lapindo four years to settle the loan.

PT Minarak Lapindo Brantas are required to pay compensation to residents and businessmen in the mud-stricken areas at the amount of Rp781 billion and Rp500 billion, respectively. The company, however, said it could not pay the compensation.

The Public Works Ministry, the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS), the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the East Java provincial administration and the Sidoarjo regency administration later said they would discuss further on the compensation—which resulted in the Rp781 billion-loan with funds from the State Budget.

The decision was made during then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s tenure.

EDWIN FAJERIAL