WALHI Sues Lapindo and Government
Tuesday, 13 February, 2007 | 12:52 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) took legal proceedings against Lapindo Brantas Inc and the government as they are regarded responsible for environmental damage due to the mudflow in Sidoarjo. The civil suit was registered at the South Jakarta District Court yesterday (12/2).

“The mudflow caused damage to the environment and ecosystem and the people lost their houses and jobs,” said Chalid Muhammad, Walhi’s Executive Director, when listing the suit.

As regards the suit against the government, he said it is because the government overlooked and did not control it. Walhi sued 12 parties, Lapindo Brantas Inc., PT Energi Mega Persada, Kalila Energy Limited, Pan Asia Enterprise, PT Medco Energy and Santos Australia Limited. From the government’s side, the accused are the President, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, Oil and Gas Upstream Executing Body, Environment Minister, East Java Governor and Sidoarjo Regent.

According to Chalid, for the legal standing Walhi applied Article 38 of the Decree No. 23/1997 on the Environment. Based on that Article, he said, Walhi is engaged because it has delved into environmental matters. “We sue speaking on behalf of the environment, not the individual,” he said.

Walhi, said Chalid, asked Lapindo to be responsible by compensating the dwellers for having sunk eight villages in that area and caused 8,200 people to evacuate with 9,000 laborers losing their jobs.

In addition, Walhi asked Lapindo to fund efforts to stop the mudflow. “The losses suffered by the people, including environmental damage, reached Rp33 trillion,” said Chalid.

In addition, the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) sued Lapindo at the Central Jakarta District Court. The trial has been ongoing for two weeks. . It sued representing the victims.

Yusuf Martak, Energi Mega Persada’s spokesperson, stated he did not know about the Walhi’s suit. However, Yusuf said he once received a summons from the court. But he did not know which case the summon was from. “We noticed the suit from YLBHI. From Walhi, we don’t know anything,” he said when contacted.

Fanny Febiana and Kartika Candra