Confusion and uncertainty

Bambang’s face showed no emotion when he told us that his mother had been discovered unconscious on the floor of the amenities block at Pasar Porong that morning. His eyes, however, told a different story. His mother had passed away, and his grief was compounded by uncertainty. Where was he to bury her, now that their family cemetery had disappeared beneath layers of toxic mud? Where would he find the two million rupiah ($A230) required to purchase a piece of land for a gravesite when he had lost both his former home and his employment?

Tahub feels overwhelmed by his wife’s illness and living conditions    at the Pasar Porong refuge.

In the past 14 months at Pasar Porong 18 residents have passed away. It is at times like this that they feel most hopeless, their anguish exacerbated by confusion and homelessness.

The 2400 refugees who are still living in cramped conditions in tents and vacant stalls at Pasar Porong are a resilient lot. Many other mud-flow victims have largely given up trying to demand full compensation from Lapindo. Juno, an ojek (motorbike transportation) driver who works on the nearby Malang-Surabaya highway, accepted Lapindo’s offer of less than 20 per cent of land value as compensation allocated in a specific form of rent assistance. He signed the contract because he wanted to provide his wife and two children with a better place to live, but he worries about the long-term consequences. ‘Lapindo promised us that they would pay the remaining 80 per cent in the next two or maybe three years,’ Juno explained, ‘but actually I’m not sure. The whole agreement is uncertain.’

Fighting for survival

Pasar Porong is the base of the Pagar Rekontrak movement, a group of villagers who reject the housing contract offer from Lapindo and refuse to hand over their land certificates without compensation for one hundred per cent of the land’s value. They are not willing to make any more compromises; after all, they have lost more than just their land. Besides the hardship and trauma of losing their houses, factories, jobs and schools, they have also suffered the loss of their community. ‘Our neighbourhoods are now dispersed,’ said Bambang. ‘We are living at Pasar Porong or with relatives, or renting houses in other villages. Many of us have had to move far away to find new employment.’ The villagers associated with Pagar Rekontrak are prepared to stand up for their right to proper compensation for their land, even if it means they must continue to live as refugees at Pasar Porong.

Besides the trauma of losing their houses, factories, jobs and schools, they have also suffered the loss of their community

But as another wet season passes they are finding conditions at Pasar Porong increasingly difficult to endure. Unemployment has meant that families have been forced to sell off all their belongings. Women have traded their last pieces of jewellery to pay school fees and transport costs as their children travel further to new schools. There is no safe water supply at Pasar Porong, so they also have to purchase tanks without any government assistance. Toilet and shower facilities at the market are still inadequate and in the mornings children have to line up for hours to have a wash.