Indonesia: President Views Porong, Mud Not Yet Disposed of

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said he understands the problems facing the National Team for Preventing Mudflow in Sidoarjo that is yet to dispose of the mud into the Porong River.

The National Team has planned to dispose of the mud on 5 October but they failed because half of the mud has already dried up, the level of water in the river is low and the installment of the mud pump was not fast enough.

”Team members don’t need to be discouraged. Keep on working. Don’t let the process of disposing of the mud disturb other infrastructure such as the railway system, toll roads and public roads,” said the President after hearing the explanation of Basuki Hadimuljono, head of the team, yesterday (10/8) at Juanda Airport, Surabaya.

The President, who was accompanied by Purnomo Yusgiantoro, the Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, Aburizal Bakrie, the Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare and Imam Utomo, the Governor of East Java stopped over in Sidoarjo on his journey to Jember to celebrate the sugarcane harvest.

”I have already presented the problems to the President and he said ‘no problem’. The President knew we have been working hard every day for 24 hours a day,” said Basuki after the meeting.

The President, Basuki said, has stated that there may be sedimentation should the mud be disposed of through the Porong River.

As a result, he said, mud dredging to the mouth of the river should be carried out.

However, the low level of water is hampering attempts to dispose of the mud.

”Another problem was that our team was not fast enough in installing the pump,” said Basuki.