There is Something Rotten in The StateNo, I'm not referring to Hadja Kouyate & Ali Boulo Santo whose album
Manding-Ko has been
reviewed thus:
Two deeply rotted artists not afraid to push the edges out a bit make (the album)
very pleasant to listen to: it won't make you dance, though there are parts a person with imagination could dance to. Most of us would have to be content to just sway with the music.Whilst hundreds die in
flash floods in South Sulawesi blamed ... on environmental degradation caused by clearing of forest areas and the construction of residences by rivers, thousands more have become displaced persons thanks to the
seeming incompetence of an oil drilling company.
Oil and gas company PT Lapindo Brantas was "grossly negligent" in failing to implement prudent operating measures that led to massive pollution from an East Java gas well, one of its partners said. Gas and mud spewed out of cracks in the gas well on May 29, forcing hundreds of residents of nearby Tenokenongo village, Sidoarjo, to evacuate their homes. The overflow also forced state turnpike operator PT Jasa Marga to temporarily close parts of the Surabaya-Gempol turnpike, causing billions of rupiah in losses to the company as well as disrupting the distribution of goods in East Java.Imagine if you will, because I can't find a picture online, foul smelling oily sludge oozing from the ground and spreading, spreading through your hectares of rice fields, through your village and inundating your home, a home it is unlikely you'll be able to live in again.
Imagine, too, the Vice President coming to offer '
sweet promises' which so far amount to Rp 20,000 (less than US$2) per person.
With all the publicity, accusations and excuses ~ apparently it was the earthquake in Yogya 2 days previously and a day's drive away what done it ~ there has been one notable absentee, the Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare,
Aburizal Bakrie.
Could it be because his family has a stake in the drilling company, PT Lapindo Brantas? This is a unit of publicly listed oil and gas company PT Energi Mega Persada (EMP) which has a 50% stake in the PSC Brantas Block which is being explored.
The displaced people of Sidoarjo, currently about 5,000 with nigh on 1,000 having received medical treatment for breathing problems, can be forgiven for thinking that there's something rotten in the State.
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