TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the compensation funds for the victims of the Lapindo mudflow disaster would begin to be disbursed in June 2015. "The funds will start to clear next month," said Kalla during a visit to the Presidential Guard Headquarters in Jakarta on Friday.
The vice president said that the funds were aimed at compensating for the loss incurred by affected residents when the mudflow flooded their homes and lands.
"The government has decided to pay off Lapindo's dues. It is a loan that Lapindo will need to repay in time," said Kalla.
The Minister for Public Works and Housing, Basuki Hadimuljono, has also said through a release that the bridging compensation funds—totalling some Rp872.1 billion—will be disbursed to affected Sidoarjo residents sometimes before the Eid holidays of 2015.
It is known that PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya will have to repay the government within four years, with the affected lands in the area used as a collateral for the loan. Once the government disbursed the compensation funds, Minarak Lapindo Jaya will be obliged to hand over the titles to the affected lands to the government.
Should Minarak Lapindo Jaya fail to repay the Rp872.1 billion loaned by the government, the titles to the lands will be seized by the government.
Previously, the Sidoarjo Mudflow Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPLS) said that the government should directly compensate the affected residents without having to go through BPLS or Minarak Lapindo Jaya as proxies.
The Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) haa also revised the total amount of compensation that needs to be paid out—up to Rp827.1 billion from its previous estimate at Rp781 billion.
ANTARA
