REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The government will provide bailout worth Rp871 billion to pay compensation to victims outside the affected area of Lapindo mud against PT Lapindo's assets worth Rp3.8 trillion.

"The bailout is to help the people who have been affected by Lapindo mud," Minister of Public Works and Housing Basuki Hadimuljono said here on Tuesday (23/12).

He explained that people had been waiting for eight years for this compensation and it has also affected the Sidoarjo Mud Mitigation Agency (BPLS) that could not work to secure the area.

He emphasized if the dike is not secured, the access road of Porong to Banyuwangi will break. Since it is the only access road, a single day's mud flow can cause losses amounting to trillions of rupiah.

The BPLS's task was to secure the only access railroads that carried fuel from Surabaya to Banyuwangi.

For this reason, he stressed, the government has urged PT Lapindo to fulfill its obligations based on a Presidential Regulation.

However, he noted, the government has promised to provide bailout worth Rp871 billion to compensate the remaining unpaid people living beyond the affected area.

"I understand that Lapindo has been working hard to resolve this matter. The obligation has been stated in the Presidential Decree on the purchase of land and assets of the people," he added.

Although the government provides bailout, Lapindo must submit assets worth Rp3.8 trillion to it as collateral.

"It is only as collateral and the government's intention is not to buy land. But, the government will help people who are affected by Lapindo mud," he remarked.

Basuki emphasized that the Lapindo will return the government bailout worth Rp871 billion over four years.

"If in four years Lapindo does not restore the bailout, then its assets belong to the government," he added.

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