THIS year could usher in a period of good fortune for the Bakrie family. In the midst of the Lapindo mudflow disaster, which will not be over anytime soon, elements of the business founded by Achmad Bakrie in 1942 are expanding more than ever before. It seems as if the Lapindo hot mudflows are not capable of bringing down the price of Bakrie business unit shares on the stock exchange floor.

What has happened is the exact opposite. The value of sha