Learning from the East Java Mudflow: Disaster Politics in Indonesia

Abstract

A study of the grim results of the erupting mud volcano in East Java that was apparently triggered in May 2006 by the company, Lapindo Brantas, which was digging an exploratory well in search of natural gas near Sidoarjo. The toxic mud now covers over 2,000 acres in East Java, and all efforts to plug the mudflow have failed. The authors discuss the scale of the disaster; theories concerning its cause (due to natural factors or negligence?); the tangled politics complicating the relief and mitigation efforts, which have involved many uncoordinated governmental and non-governmental agencies, as well as Lapindo Brantas (which seeks to limit its liability); and the enormous human, social, and economic costs.