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Sidoarjo Election Bids by Lapindo Execs Welcomed
Amir Tejo | April 19, 2010

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In an unexpected twist, victims of the Sidoarjo mudflow in East Java on Monday lauded bids by executives of the company accused of being at the center of the disaster, PT Lapindo Brantas, to run in local elections set for July.

Khoirul Huda, chairman of the Mudflow Victims Association, said the moves by Yuniwati Teriyani, Lapindo’s vice president for communications, and Bambang Prasetyo Widodo, operational director of holding company PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, were welcome to run if they had “honorable intentions.”

“As long as they prioritize people’s interests, we won’t oppose their bids,” Khoirul said. “Besides, the voters are smart enough not to choose anyone they suspect has a hidden agenda.”

Furthermore, he added that if either Yuniwati or Bambang was elected district head of Sidoarjo, the issue of compensation for mudflow victims could possibly proceed more smoothly, while more investment opportunities could also open up in the area.

Khoirul said that while 8,800 families had already been compensated, about 3,500 were still being processed and another 100 could receive nothing because they rejected the terms of the compensation deal.

He said Lapindo, which is owned in part by the Bakrie Group conglomerate, could also draw in other companies to invest in Sidoarjo if either of the executives was elected.

Yuniwati, backed by the ruling Democratic Party, said her bid was not motivated by corporate interests. “I just want to help develop Sidoarjo,” she said, adding that she had grown more concerned about community affairs since the mudflow disaster began.

She declined to comment on the compensation process, which has been dragging on since 2006, saying only that itwould work itself out.

Bambang, meanwhile, is running with the backing of the Golkar Party, whose chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, is the Bakrie Group’s kingpin. His father, Soewandi, served as Sidoarjo district head from 1975 to 1985.

He has pledged to resolve the social problems arising from the mudflow, including assisting compensation efforts.

Bima Arisdianto, from the local elections commission, said neither candidate had yet been approved to run for the post, with the list of candidates to be finalized on April 27 ahead of the poll on July 25.