Entire villages have been inundated by the torrent of mud that has flowed since a drilling accident in May, causing an unfolding environmental disaster in the Sidoarjo area near Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya.
Yudhoyono said Lapindo Brantas, the operator of the well, would have to pay 2.5 trillion rupiah ($275 million) in compensation for people whose houses have been submerged by the mud.
