Two Decades After the Sidoarjo Mudflow, Public Facility Compensation Stalls, Residents Demand the Reconstruction of Al Huda Mosque

Two decades after the Sidoarjo mudflow disaster, the issue of compensation for social and public facilities remains incomplete. One of the strongest demands comes from affected residents who are demanding clarity on the reconstruction of their submerged places of worship, one of which is the Al Huda Mosque. The Chairman of the Foundation and the Takmir of Al Huda Mosque, Mahmud Yunus Alwi, known as Cak Willy, stressed that this demand is a moral mandate because it concerns public funds that must be accounted for. “I have been given the mandate to convey this because the burden of this mud disaster has been going on for 20 years. This concerns the people’s funds, there are ongoing charitable donations, waqf, and so forth. Our principle is simple: the mosque must be a mosque again,” said Cak Willy. Before the disaster struck, the Al Huda Mosque stood in the Tanggulangin Sejahtera Housing area (Perum Tas) Block AA, Sidoarjo. The mosque’s land was 1,500 square metres of public facility land provided by the developer. On that land, residents worked together to erect a 400-square-metre mosque building. Cak Willy explained that the compensation for his personal property has been 100 per cent completed. However, for the place of worship, the foundation is not asking for compensation in the form of cash but for the physical reconstruction of the mosque. On the other hand, the process of settling the sale and purchase of land and buildings in the Affected Area Map as of 22 March 2007, which covers 13,284 files, is based on several strict regulations. PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya (MLJ), as the responsible party, refers to the legal basis including Presidential Regulation Number 14 of 2007. Based on the BPKP verification report audit as of 24 March 2015, PT MLJ was recorded as having completed the sale and purchase of 9,953 files with a total value reaching Rp 2,797,442,841,586. Thus, the remaining shortage at that time was 3,331 files with a total nominal value of Rp 827,721,154,214. To settle the remaining payments for land and buildings belonging to the community within the Affected Area Map of 22 March 2007, PT MLJ obtained anticipation funds from the government. Although payments for residents’ homes continue using anticipation funds, the restoration of spiritual public facilities like the Al Huda Mosque is now considered urgent to be realised in order to fulfil the social and religious rights of the affected residents.