Japan Researchers Visit Lapindo Mud Area

Sidoarjo, Feb 5 (Antara) - Some 11 researchers from Kyoto University (KU) in Japan and scores of their Indonesian colleagues have visited the Lapindo mud in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java. "They want to obtain first hand information about the mud disaster, because other researchers have often read about it but they did not know what really happened," explained the Secretary of the Centre for Study of Earth, Disasters and Climate Change, LPPM of Surabaya Technology Institute, Kriyo Sambodho on Tuesday. The visit to the Lapindo mud was a series of workshops entitled "Geological Disaster in Indonesia Problems and Their Countermeasures" in Sidoarjo. The workshop was organized to share the experiences of natural disaster managements due to the very similar nature of disaster of two nations. Professor James Mori from KU presented the results of the research on Sidoarjo Mud titled "The LUSI Mud Volcano: Man Made or Natural Disaster?" in a teleconference. "There are three causes of the incident (mud), nature, impact of drilling (human error), and the impact of earthquake (natural disaster), but I do not strongly favor just any one of the three opinions," he announced in his speech. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Geologists Association Advisory (IAGI) Andang Bachtiar explained that existing data at the time of the initial overflow indicated that Lapindo`s drilling in the area did not meet the standards of exploration. "If they followed the exploration standards, the disaster will not happen, because a similar drilling in other locations are not like that," he said. Therefore, he said, causes the Lapindo mud that there are various versions. "Obviously, if the assessment is based on the knowledge geologist, oil and gas will be found the cause from human error factor, but if you do not understand the connection with oil and gas, would tend to argue that nature is the cause," he said.