SUNARTO got a marker and a sheet of paper from his makeshift drapery ‘room’ in Pasar Baru, Porong, Sidoarjo. With great zeal, the 50-year-old was going to write several questions for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). On Tuesday last week, Sunarto heard the news that SBY would see victims of hot mud gushing from the well of PT Lapindo Brantas in Pasar Baru.

On the previous day, the President indeed made a sudden visit to Sidoarjo. As