wasteland

Not far from our city is the site of a huge environmental crisis. On our way out of the city we had to pass by what is called “lumpur panas”, which when translated means “hot mud”. Hot mud has constantly been spewing from the earth since May 2006 which was either caused by a company that was drilling for gas and did not take proper precautions prior to their drilling, an earthquake that occurred in a city about 165 miles away that may have shifted the tectonic plates leading to the mud explosion, or the combination of both events. Regardless of what the cause is, the result is devastating. Over ten thousand people have had to flee their homes as the mud has overtaken many villages creating what looks like an endless sea of mud. These people have lost their jobs, their livelihoods, their homes, and have resorted to begging and other means to feed their families.

The mud is also creating a major transportation problem for the eastern part of the island. It has caused the closure of a major highway and is threatening the rail line which links the eastern part of the island to the second largest city in the country. A trip to a neighboring city which is supposed to take about an hour and a half to reach now takes about four hours because of the loss of infrastructure and huge traffic jams.

The effects on the environment are also devastating as much of the mud has been released into rivers and the sea in a failed effort to alleviate some of flooding of villages. This has killed off much of the wildlife and fish which used to inhabit these areas.

Further troubling still is that this disaster has been largely ignored by the international community, the media, and the government. The company that was drilling in the area refuses to take responsibility for any of their actions and therefore has not helped the displaced villagers. Scientists cannot agree as to what the cause is either, but the one thing that they have concluded is that there is no sign that the mud flow will slow, further expanding this wasteland.