[Kabar-indonesia] JP Editorial: Bakrie's Name at Stake [+Mudflow Relocations]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: Bengkalis ready for transmigrants from mudflow-hit Sidoarjo;
and JP Op-Ed: Forensic cadastre and natural disasters 

The Jakarta Post 
Monday, October 2, 2006

Editorial

Bakrie's Name at Stake 

photo: Mud Worsens: A worker walks on the embankment built to contain the 
hot mud erupting out from Lapindo Brantas Inc.'s gas well in Sidoarjo, East 
Java. Workers toiling to control the disaster reported Sunday the 
four-month-old mudflow was gushing stronger, threatening a nearby highway linking Surabaya 
and Bali 
and railway tracks. The mud spreads at an estimated 50,000 cubic meters a 
day. (JP/ID Nugroho) 

Efforts to stop the unprecedented flow of hot mud in the East Java town of 
Sidoarjo are continuing, but truly extraordinary measures are needed to help the 
more than 3,000 affected families and end the disaster.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's order to dump the toxic mud into the 
sea, via Porong River, can be understood when viewed from the perspective of the 
people of Sidoarjo. Since the mud began to pour out of a PT Lapindo Brantas 
Inc. gas exploration well on May 29, all measures to contain the sludge have 
failed. After four months the villages nearest the well have almost completely 
disappeared beneath the mud. Thousands more people will lose everything if 
something drastic is not done. 

A decision as controversial as dumping the mud into the sea must have been 
made only after intense debate. This is no doubt why environment minister 
Rachmat Witoelar eventually reversed his position to support the policy. 

Rachmat had originally agreed with environmentalists that dumping the mud 
into the sea would only do the environment more harm and create new problems. 
This argument has gained strength as hundreds of dead fish have been found since 
Lapindo workers started to pipe untreated mud into Porong River earlier this 
month. 

Fishermen also are opposed to piping the mud into the sea, concerned it will 
affect their catch and their income. 

The government, however, claims the mud does not contain hazardous 
substances. It also says it will treat the mud before it is dumped into the sea, 
hopefully minimizing the impact on the marine ecosystem. 

A researcher from the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology 
said the treatment of effluent would cost Rp 5,000 per cubic meter. With 
around 6.15 million cubic meters covering Sidoarjo as of Sept. 22, just treating 
the mud would cost Rp 30.75 billion. And that figure is certain to rise with no 
one sure when the disaster will end. 

The government has done its part. It has formed a national team involving 
several ministries to deal with the mudflow. It also has ordered the resettlement 
of affected families, and has promised to provide them with jobs. 

All of the costs will reportedly be borne by Lapindo, whose general manager 
Imam Agustino said the company would allocate US$140 million to cover all 
expenses. Lapindo claims to have already spent $70 million as of mid-September on 
operational costs and in compensation to victims. Each affected family receives 
Rp 300,000 in monthly meal allowances and Rp 2 million to rent a house for 
two years. It remains unclear how Lapindo determined the amount of the payments, 
or if it will offer more money in the future to help the families restart 
their lives. 

Like tsunami and earthquake victims, all of the residents have to start over 
from scratch. The difference is that the people of Sidoarjo are suffering from 
what is likely human error. 

A middle-aged woman, therefore, had every reason to cry over her house and 
all her belongings inside, destroyed by the sea of mud. She recalled how she 
saved rupiah by rupiah for years to buy the house. 

There have been frequent rallies as victims of the mudflow vent their anger 
at Lapindo's handling of the disaster, prompting police to issue a 
shoot-on-sight order for anyone attempting to disrupt cleanup work. 

Most recently members of Greenpeace Southeast Asia dumped mud taken from 
Sidoarjo outside the Jakarta office of Coordinating Minister for the People's 
Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, whose family holds a controlling stake in Lapindo. The 
protesters demanded Aburizal take responsibility for the disaster. 

While Aburizal quit the family business when he took up a government post in 
2004, the minister cannot simply wash his hands of this case. He must prove he 
has done enough to help the mud victims receive adequate compensation and 
start a better life. 

Fair or not, the Bakrie name is at stake with the mudflow. The recent 
takeover of Lapindo by the Bakrie family-controlled Lyte Limited in the wake of the 
disaster requires explanation. Despite its new status as a limited company, 
Lapindo cannot ignore public demand for transparency regarding the handling of 
the mudflow. 

If the disaster lives up to the worst-case scenario, with some experts 
predicting it could continue for years, the government will have to take more 
radical measures. If necessary it could freeze Lapindo's assets as collateral 
against the continuing damage to private property, public facilities and the 
environment caused by the mud. 

----------------------------------

Bengkalis ready for transmigrants from mudflow-hit Sidoarjo 

BENGKALIS, Riau, Oct. 2 (Antara): Bengkalis regency administration in Riau 
province said it is willing to accept people relocated from Sidoarjo regency in 
East Java province affected by mudflow, Bengkalis Regent Syamsurizal said 
Monday.

"In principle, we do not question where the transmigrants are coming from as 
long as they can support the development of Independent City Area on Rupat 
Island," he said.

Currently the plan to relocate residents of mudflow-hit Porong district to 
Rupat Island is being finalized. The only pending issue is the composition of 
locals and transmigrants.

The composition is currently held at 50:50 for the planned 9,000 families 
living in the new city on the island neighboring Malaysia.

Rupat district head Ruslie Yud aired similar approval for the planned 
relocation.

"We support the central government's decision to relocate Porong residents to 
Rupat Island as long as the plan brings benefits for locals."

----------------------------------------

The Jakarta Post 
Monday, October 2, 2006

Op-Ed

Forensic cadastre and natural disasters 

Farid Hendro Adiyanto and I Made Andi Arsana, Jakarta

Most readers would be unfamiliar with the phrase forensic cadastre. In fact, 
it is 
not used at all. However, if it has already been introduced by someone we 
have 
no intention whatsoever of plagiarizing. 

Cadastre is a term related to land measurement and land titles. It is related 
to land measurement (parcel-based) and maintenance of land administration 
(ownership, area, title, land value and position). 

Indonesia has two kinds of cadastre systems. The first is Fiscal Cadastre 
(FC), which is used to collect land and building tax and is conducted by the 
Directorate of Land and Building Tax (PBB) of the Finance Ministry. 

The second is Recht Cadastre (RC), which deals with the legal aspect with the 
aim of providing legal certainty to land owners concerning land titles. The 
National Land Agency (BPN) is the official government body responsible for RC. 

But what is forensic cadastre anyway? Let us look at the situation in 
Indonesia. 

We are aware that devastating earthquakes and tsunamis have destroyed several 
regions in Indonesia. On Dec. 26, 2004, a massive earthquake and tsunami 
struck Aceh and North Sumatra causing countless people to lose their lives. One 
and a half years later, a big earthquake also struck Yogyakarta and Central Java 
followed by the recent earthquake and tsunami that hit Pangandaran beach on 
the south coast of Java. 

Hundreds of thousands of casualties have been recorded. Besides losing family 
members, many families also lost their properties. These natural disasters 
have come one after another bringing misery to the lives of many Indonesians. 

Earthquakes cannot be accurately predicted. It is indeed scientifically 
accepted that there will be natural phenomena and signs before an earthquake takes 
place. However, the precise time that an earthquake will strike cannot yet be 
determined. It is only possible to measure the magnitude and position of an 
earthquake and the potency of a tsunami. 

In addition, although tsunami early warning systems have been installed in 
some regions it is not possible to prevent a tsunami from occurring. 
Consequently, infrastructure damage and loss of property are inevitable. 

As a country with a high risk of natural disasters Indonesia faces a lot of 
problems. The government has spent a lot on recovery programs, of which 
reconstruction of land titles is a part. Reconstructing land titles in Aceh, for 
example, is one of the main problems in post disaster recovery. 

Land title reconstruction faces many obstacles including loss of family 
members (owners), land parcel borders, and land documents (certificate, land book, 
cadastre map). Technical aspects, including land measurement and cadastre 
mapping, are indeed the major activity in cadastre, but it would not be possible 
without the support of nontechnical or social, legal and historical aspects. 

Forensic cadastre is a concept based on the above problems. The term forensic 
is used to describe an investigation into the cause and effect of an 
incident. Nowadays, the term forensic has also been used in accounting in connection 
with financial crime. Forensic engineering, for example, is the investigation 
of a building structure after a disaster. It is used to investigate the causes 
and impact of an incident for building reconstruction purposes. 

The above examples prompted us to introduce the term forensic cadastre. It 
could be viewed as a concept, process or technique to investigate land (parcel 
based) after a natural disaster and to then determine a method and standard 
operating procedure (SOP) for land reconstruction. The fact that land parcels 
lose their boundaries and documents are lost makes this activity challenging. 

Living with natural disasters, forensic cadastre should be given serious 
thought in Indonesia. An early warning system is very important to prevent a huge 
number of fatalities but disasters are unavoidable. Therefore, forensic 
cadastre is required to provide a SOP to deal with this situation. 

What should we do regarding forensic cadastre? It is not difficult to 
understand that forensic cadastre requires a multidisciplinary approach. Technical 
and social aspects are the major considerations in this process. Land 
measurement, land surveying and mapping are included in the technical aspects, which 
involves cadastral surveyors, and people in the field of geography, geodesy and 
geomatics. 

On the other hand, nontechnical aspects, especially legal aspects, also play 
an important role in forensic cadastre. This is because the final product of 
forensic cadastre is a land certificate. In addition, community participation 
is also essential as they know the real situation better. Experience shows that 
community involvement in land reconstruction is the best approach for Aceh. 

Forensic cadastre is not a simple idea. It is easy to discuss but, to an 
extent, very difficult to implement. However, we believe that this could bring 
another perspective to land reconstruction to prevent land administration from 
becoming more difficult due to natural disasters. So, when will we start? 

Farid Hendro Adiyanto is currently working at the National Land Agency (BPN) 
and is studying at the School of Surveying and SIS, University of New South 
Wales, Sydney, Australia, focusing on cadastre. 

I Made Andi Arsana is a lecturer at the Department of Geodesy and Geomatic 
Engineering, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. 

------------------------------------------
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------