[Kabar-Irian] News: Feb 22-27 2007

[Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian]

KABAR IRIAN NEWS

Feb 22-27 2007

TOPICS

* Papua and West Papua reconciliation gets support
* 'Sleeping giant' Papua unveils major development programs
* Forum urges delay in revising law on Papua autonomy
* Urgent humanitarian need in Papua
* INDONESIA: PRO-PAPUA TV ADVERTS TO TEST CANBERRA-JAKARTA TIES
* The Catholic bishops of Papua...
* Freeport pays taxes of US$1.6b to govt
* Timika warned of losing airport

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070222.G01


Papua and West Papua reconciliation gets support

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Manokwari

Tuesday's agreement between the governors of Papua and West Papua to end
their bickering over the legal basis for the establishment of West Papua
province received

support Wednesday from Komarudin Watubun, deputy speaker of the Papuan
Legislative Council (DPRP).

"All processes taking place on Papuan land are based on the special
autonomy law (so bringing) Papua and West Papua under one umbrella has to
be discussed, "

Komarudin said after attending a graduation ceremony at the State Papua
University in Manokwari, the capital of West Papua, on Wednesday.

Previously the DPRP strongly opposed the creation of West Papua province,
previously named West Irian Jaya, because they said it violated part of a
2001 law on the

partition of Papua.

The problem was brought to the Constitutional Court, which reached an
ambiguous verdict. The DPRP got its way when the court decided to nullify
the 1999 law that set the

basis for the creation of West Irian Jaya province. However, because the
province had already been created, the responsibility for a final decision
was handed over to the

government.

"There is no need to talk about the past. What we need now is to settle
problems as soon as possible to enable to the people to live peacefully.
If we are busy quarreling

when can we build for the people?" Komarudin asked.

He said that since indigenous Papuans live in both West Papua and Papua,
both provinces had to use the special autonomy law as their legal base.

It was time to end the bickering, he said, because ongoing disagreement
would only harm the Papuan people.

Willing or unwilling, the DPRP and the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) have
to follow their governors' leads in settling tension between the two
provinces.

On Tuesday's meeting between the Papuan and West Papuan governors, eight
points of agreement were decided for further deliberation in Biak on March
31.

The follow-up meeting in Biak is scheduled to be attended by the Papuan
and West Papuan governors, representatives from the DPRP and the MRP, 22
regents and

mayors from Papua and seven regents and mayors from West Papua.

One of the eight points of the agreement was the gathering of inventories
for personnel and equipment as well as the documentation of regional
revenue, public works,

transportation, forestry, agriculture, sea fishing and mining figures
before March 31.

Another point deals with an agreement by representatives of the two
provinces to share special autonomy funds, following a special working
meeting in Biak next month to

be attended by all the regents and mayors from both Papua and West Papua.

It was also agreed that all natural resources should be shared by all
provinces, regencies and mayoralties throughout the Papuan region, based
on a percentage division

between producing and non-producing areas already set out in existing
regional regulations.

Others points included an integrated development plan, which covers
spatial planning and the development of infrastructure, strategic economic
development, social and

cultural development and the development of human resources.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070223.G03&irec=2

'Sleeping giant' Papua unveils major development programs

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

The Papua provincial administration will focus its development programs on
rural areas where the largest number of poor live, the governor said
Thursday.

Governor Barnabas Suebu said 80 percent of Papuans live in remote villages
in poor conditions, if not absolute poverty.

He said the administration would provide each of the 2,700 villages in
Papua province and 1,164 villages in West Papua province with Rp 100
million (about US$11,100).

"This is not a gift from Santa Claus, it must be accounted for."

The Papua administration currently oversees autonomy funds for both Papua
and West Papua provinces.

Before receiving the funds, villages must specify their needs and outline
planned development programs, as well as detailing plans for supervising
the use of the money.

Some of the main goals of the village development program are improving
nutrition, education, health, local economies and infrastructure in the
villages, as well as

addressing issues such as gender equality, sustainable forest management
and law and justice.

To finance the program, Suebu has shaken up the provincial budget. In the
previous budget, 70 percent of funds were allocated for the state
apparatus, 20 percent for

infrastructure and public spending and the remaining 10 percent for rural
development. In the new-look budget, the funds for the state apparatus
have been slashed to 27

percent, while 25 percent will go for infrastructure and public spending
and 45 percent for rural development.

The province also has launched a major infrastructure project, called the
integrated transportation network. Under this project, the administration
will build seaports, airports

and a modern highway system, at a total cost of between Rp 50 trillion and
Rp 100 trillion. Funding for the work will come from both the state and
provincial budgets, as well

as from overseas grants.

Suebu said a modern transportation system would spur economic growth in
villages.

"Our farmers have to sell their products in the city, but to do this they
have to pay a lot for transportation, which cuts their profit. That's a
major drawback of a poor

transportation system," he said.

The governor said the highway construction would begin this year, starting
with the 3,000 kilometer Trans-Papua highway, which will connect Papua and
West Papua at a

cost of Rp 30 trillion.

To save costs, the project will make use of tailings from the PT Freeport
mining company, with the end result expected to be of similar quality as
concrete roads.

Suebu said with an integrated transportation network, isolated areas would
be opened and more investors would come and awaken the "sleeping giant".
"This is what we call

the new Papua, a prosperous Papua," said the governor.

Among Papua's abundant natural wealth are proven gold and copper reserves
of 2.5 billion tons in the PT Freeport mining concession area, 540 million
cubic meters of

potential commercial timber, nine million hectares of forest conversion
areas for large-scale plantations, 2,000 miles of coastline, a sea area of
220,000 square km and 1.3

million tons of potential fishery products per year.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070223.H06&irec=5


Forum urges delay in revising law on Papua autonomy

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A forum of intellectuals, community representatives and politicians asked
the central government Thursday to postpone the planned revision of the
2001 Papuan Special

Autonomy law, despite acknowledging that special autonomy has yet to be
fully implemented in Papua.

"There should be comprehensive evaluation and planning before reaching the
conclusion that revision is urgently needed," Papua Forum chairman Albert
Hasibuan told a

discussion held at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS) in Central Jakarta.

Albert said that if revision was truly unavoidable, the revised law should
not just look after the needs of political elites.

The forum said that six years of special autonomy in Papua had yet to
provide opportunities for indigenous Papuans to get involved in managing
their own affairs.

"If there should really be a revision, the people of Papua, who are
represented by the Papuan Legislative Council (DPRP) and the Papuan
People's Assembly (MRP) should

participate (in its deliberation)," said a member of the Jakarta Community
for Papua (Pokja), Frans Maniagasi.

"These two bodies represent the people while the two governors (Papua and
West Papua) represent the central government," Frans said.

He added that the implementation of special autonomy law was a "mess"
since the supporting legal components were yet to be issued.

"Many Papuans are against the revision because the provincial bylaw
(Perdasi), created by the governor and the DPRP; and the special bylaw
(Perdasus) created by the

governor, DPRP and MRP are not yet available," he said.

Besides the postponement of the planned revision, the Forum also asked the
central government to conduct feasibility studies before making decisions
on the establishment

of new regencies.

Legislator Simon P. Morin, from the Golkar Party faction in the House of
Representatives, said that special autonomy needed a special instrument
for its execution.

"These instruments should be established by the central government to
empower special autonomy," Simon said. He added that the Papuan people's
welfare and education

have not measurably improved since the special autonomy law was enacted.

"People's empowerment is important. Without empowerment and enforcement
from the central government to local offices, the special autonomy law
will not be effective,"

he added.

Simon said local administration offices in Papua should be evaluated
closely to deter potential mismanagement, especially in budget allocation.
"The more you go down to

the level of local bureaucracy, the smaller the funding becomes."

A researcher from the Center for Political Studies at the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Muridan S. Widjojo, said there was nothing
wrong with the special

autonomy law.

"It's not the law but the implementation of the law. A lot of the funding
actually went to activities that would not increase the welfare of the
people," he said.

Muridan added that most of the funding went to local administration
offices and the bureaucracy.

"Where are the funding to improve health clinics and schools or to send
teachers to remote areas? There is just no data to prove that substantial
allocation has happened,"

he said.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20070224.F05&irec=4

Urgent humanitarian need in Papua

When Indonesia faces disasters which it cannot physically or financially
deal with, such as the tsunami that ravaged Aceh, it looks to the
international community for

support, and that support is willingly given.

In the case of Australia, we send our most able disaster experts and
medical teams to assist Indonesia immediately and unquestioningly.
Tragically the lives of nine young

Australian air force medical personnel were lost in the Nias rescue effort.

Now Papua is in need. Due to the current military operation underway in
Puncak Jaya, thousands have been forced to flee their villages, to seek
refuge away from their

food gardens and now face critical shortages. A human, man-made tragedy
rather than a natural disaster, despite Puncak Jaya being a relatively
short distance from the

world's most lucrative gold and copper mine, the U.S.-owned PT Freeport,
and at the same time as flood-borne disease spreads in the republic's own
heartland.

Yet in Papua, the international community is quarantined, prevented from
providing humanitarian assistance and emergency food and medical supplies.
Why is this so?

How many will die because of Jakarta's intransigence?

According to the WHO's latest report on Indonesia, released recently,
Papua now has a 2 percent HIV prevalence in the general community, a rate
20 times higher than the

rest of Indonesia. Since the early 1990s, warnings of an impending AIDS
pandemic in the indigenous population were ignored. Some believe it was
deliberate policy to

assist in Papua's depopulation.

While this claim is officially denied, illegal brothels, many linked to
the security forces, continue to operate without clinical oversight and
employ HIV-infected migrant

prostitutes.

The arrival of bird flu in Papua last year was, though predicted, not
prevented. There remain no effective quarantine measures at ports where
the majority of migrants,

livestock and produce enter Papua from other islands, mainly Java and
Sulawesi.

Now the international community is again asking why Indonesia does not put
the well-being of the indigenous Papuan population first, but is
repeatedly told that Papua's

problems are an "internal affair" which only Jakarta can solve in a
"peaceful and just manner".

The usual rerun of Jakarta's defensive stance, that international
attention focused on Papua's troubles is a conspiracy which threatens
Indonesian sovereignty, is boring,

outdated and irrelevant in the face of these crises. To continue to
restrict access to this troubled place denies the reality of the magnitude
of the problems facing the

Papuan people.

JOHN WING
Australia

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http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.389985956&par=0

INDONESIA: PRO-PAPUA TV ADVERTS TO TEST CANBERRA-JAKARTA TIES


Jakarta, 26 Feb. (AKI) - Australian business magnate Ian Melrose, plans to
spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a television advertisement
campaign in Southeast

Asia to press Indonesia to allow human rights organisations and
journalists to enter the province of Papua. According to Matthew Jamieson,
a representative of the Institute

for Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights, a pro-Papua Australian
non-governmental organisation (NGO), the initiative will put the "Papua
question" on the front pages of

newspapers and may further strain the fragile ties between Canberra and
Jakarta.

"The TV advertisement will again put West Papua on the agenda in
Australia," Jamieson told Adnkronos International (AKI). "The intention of
the sponsor Ian Melrose to

extend the advertisement onto TV in Asia will increase tension from
Indonesia to Australia," he told AKI.

Papua is the eastern most province of the Indonesian archipelago. Papua,
formerly known as Irian Jaya, has been a scene of secessionist violence
since Dutch colonial

rule formally ended in 1962.

According to some estimates, more than 100,000 people have been victim of
abuse by the Indonesian military. The Indonesian government does not allow
foreign

journalists and human rights organisations to enter the province.

Ian Melrose decision to launch such a campaign coincides with the
ratification of the new Australia-Indonesia security treaty by June.

Melrose is said to want to force Canberra to add a clause that will allow
for activists and journalists to enter Papua.

Jamieson said that most Australian public opinion is "sensitive" to the
condistions and to the pro-independence clause of the Papuans and do not
view the decision by the

Australian government to collaborate with the Indonesian military.

"The bloody past history of the Indonesian military in East Timor and
elsewhere is well understood in the Australian public," Jamieson told AKI.
"The Australian Government

appears to be doing everything it can to placate Indonesia," he said.

In a recent survey conducted in Australia, 76 percent of the people
contacted said that they would support self-determination for Papua.

The Australia-Indonesia security treaty was signed in November to bring an
end to a crisis brought about after Canberra gave political asylum to 43
Papuans who landed on

Australian soil in January 2006.

Besides military cooperation, the pact also called for reciprocal respcet
for territorial integrity.

The two countries also agreed not to host any groups that could represent
a threat to the other country.

The advertisements have been appearing on Australian televsion since 14
February and are expected to run on television channels in Southeast Asia.

Besides including images of Australian prime minister John Howard, and the
Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the voice on the ad
campaign says:

"Howard, Yudhoyono, you now have all the information: 183,000 dead in East
Timor, 100,000 dead in West Papua. Include human rights monitoring and
access for

journalists to West Papua in the Australia Indonesia Treaty."

In the past Melrose also paid for similar television spots when he thought
it unjust the way in which Canberra treated East Timor during negotiations
over gas and oil fields

present in the sea that divides the two nations.

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http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=23175

CANews (www.ucanews.com)
MERAUKE, Indonesia (UCAN) – The Catholic bishops of Papua, Indonesia's
easternmost region, have called on Catholic young people to uphold and
revive human values

in service and ministry.


Papua's five bishops made the call in a joint letter to the national
working meeting of Pemuda Katolik (Catholic Youth Association) in Merauke,
3,670 kilometers east of

Jakarta. Merauke, the capital of Merauke district, is in Papua province's
southern territory.

The bishops presented the letter on Feb. 13, at the opening session of the
four-day meeting with the theme Awaken and Move: Historical and Cultural
Basics of Catholic

Church to Develop New Habitus for the Nation.

The five bishops – of Merauke Archdiocese and Agats, Jayapura,
Manokwari-Sorong and Timika dioceses – shared values, virtues and moral
guideposts in the letter, read

by Sacred Heart Archbishop Nicolaus Adi Seputra of Merauke, for 114
budding activists at the meeting's opening on Feb. 13. Franciscan Bishop
Aloysius Murwito of Agats

was also present.

"Human values need to be upheld and revived continuously among young
Catholics, especially those preparing to be leaders," the bishops said in
the letter, "these values

need to be given top priority."

"Our historical basis is Jesus Christ, the Holy Bible and the official
teachings of the church. Our cultural basis is love, expressed in ministry
and a spirit of servitude," they

wrote. Quoting Matthew (23:11), they reminded the youths: "The greatest
among you must be your servant."

The bishops urged the activists to follow Jesus, who worked with clear
vision and mission. Jesus Christ, wrote the bishops, "struggled unto death
for the realization of vision

and mission ... making himself a servant, even by sacrificing himself unto
death on the cross."

The bishops said the meeting was the right moment to seize gospel values
and reinvigorate their meaning. The values, they said, are decision-making
references for young

Catholics.

The meeting was a good opportunity for young Catholics to review and
improve service activities, the bishops added. The Papua church leaders
hope the work meeting will

be followed by concrete activities, preparing Catholic cadres nationwide.

Marningrot Tua Natalis Situmorang, national board chairman of Pemuda
Katolik, told UCA News at the end of the meeting that participants
produced a number of programs

to be implemented by all chapters nationwide, including consolidation of
the organization, development of national membership, and leadership
training.

The meeting, he added, also produced a statement of support for the
establishment of a South Papua province. The Indonesian part of New Guinea
island now has two

provinces, Papua and West Papua. The proposed province, based on local
people's aspirations, would include Asmat, Boven Digoel, Mappi and Merauke
districts.

On Feb. 15, Saifullah Yusuf, State Minister for the Accelerated
Development of Disadvantaged Regions, urged Pemuda Katolic's young
activists to empower the poor.

The national working meeting was closed with a Holy Mass led by Archbishop
Seputra, with Father Johanes Kandam, the archdiocese's vicar general, and
Sacred Heart

Father Miller Senduk concelebrating.

Established in 1929 in Yogyakarta with the motto Pro ecclesia et patria
(for church and country), the Indonesia Catholic youth association gathers
and unites Catholic

youth, building mature personalities, and responsible, dedicated citizens
and church members. The association holds national congresses to elect
leaders, and national

working meetings to set programs and develop projects.

- - -

Republished by Catholic Online with permission of the Union of Catholic
Asian News (UCA News), the world's largest Asian church news agency
(www.ucanews.com).

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillbus.asp?fileid=20070226185623&irec=0

Freeport pays taxes of US$1.6b to govt

JAKARTA (Antara): US-based gold-mining company PT Freeport paid US$1.6
billion or about Rp 14 trillion in taxes to the Indonesian government for
the January-

December 2006 period, company spokesman Mindo Pangaribuan said on Monday.

"The tax payment includes corporate tax, employees' income tax, regional
tax and other taxes," Pangaribuan said.

He said payments of the other amounted to $1.29 billion while the company
had also paid $146 million in royalties and $159 million in dividends.

"Freeport Indonesia has paid a total of $5.1 billion in financial
obligations from 1992 to 2006 to the Indonesian government based on its
1991 work contract," Pangaribuan

said.

He said that Freeport would also provide more than $500 million in the
form of social infrastructure development and opening of job opportunities
for about 9,000 workers, of

whom 2,400 were local people of Papua. (***)

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070226.G04&irec=3

Timika warned of losing airport

Markus Makur, The Jakarta Post, Timika

The town of Mimika in Papua could lose its airport by the end of this
month if mining company PT Freeport Indonesia ignores a government letter
urging the company to

repair Moses Kilangin Airport's cracked runway.

The head of the air transportation division at Mimika regency's
Transportation and Tourism Office, John Rettob, said Friday that the
airport was in poor condition, having

had a crack in the runway since last October.

He said Freeport and Airfast Aviation airport management have been given
until the end of February to complete repair works to ensure flight safety
at the airport.

Rettob said the damage had reduced the load capacity and efficiency of the
runway, adding that the airport's runway was last overlayed in 1992.

"We have sent a letter to the Transportation Ministry to remind the
airport operator to pay attention to this problem for the sake of flight
safety for all airlines served by the

Moses Kilangin Airport," said Rettob.

He said the Transportation Ministry and his office had sent notices to
airline companies reminding them about the inferior condition of the
runway in October last year.

The length of the runway has been reduced from 2,395 meters to 2,100
meters, suggesting that only small aircraft would be able to land on it.

"The runway must be repaired to avoid flight delays. During its annual
inspection, the Transportation Ministry instructed airport management to
overlay the runway," said

Rettob.

He added airport management was required to serve planes according to the
airport's present condition, therefore excluding large-bodied aircraft
from the airport.

Authorities have warned that failing to complete runway repair work by the
end of this month may result in the airport being shut down.

He said, however, that the airport's management and PT Freeport Indonesia
had prepared equipment necessary for the repair works to commence next
week, adding that

the tender process had also been completed.

Rettob said national carrier Garuda Indonesia had started using
small-bodied Boeing 737-500 planes at the airport.

Meanwhile, airport manager Subagiyo H. denied the runway was damaged. He
said that overlaying the runway was routine maintenance and that cracks on
the runway did

not pose a risk for airplanes.

He said that runway repair works would be carried out in April and
completed in July. "We will inform airlines about the repairs," he said.

Subagiyo said the Air Transportation Calibration Agency at the
Transportation Ministry had frequently conducted inspections of the
airport and that the airport had always

prioritized flight safety.

Garuda Indonesia Timika branch manager Syamsul Adnan said the airline had
adjusted its flight schedules in and out of Timika in anticipation of the
repair works.

Garuda Indonesia station operator Hardono Pamungkas said that the schedule
changes were likely to reduce passenger capacity but the airline would
constantly inform

passengers about runway repairs being conducted at the airport.