[Kabar-Irian] News: March 28-30 2007

Thu Mar 29 17:33:50 MDT 2007

KABAR IRIAN NEWS

March 27-30

TOPICS

* Plane makes emergency landing in Papua
* Australia risks Papua conflict role -- activists
* Papuans Seek Global Support for UN Peacekeepers, Free Elections
* Do we truly embrace unity in diversity?
* PNG arrests 33 for allegedly illegally fishing on the border
* Council members visit Japan
* HIV/AIDS infections rising fast at border
* Indonesia President's Popularity Drops
* Emergency chopper landing in Papua
* Sago the Eastern Islands' esteemed staple
* Freeport nets 5.6 Billion
* Indonesian justice attacked over illegal logging
* Help  West Papua with forest fund.

* Call for the Indonesian government to move against main offenders in
illegal log trade

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20070327183208&irec=0

Plane makes emergency landing in Papua

JAYAPURA (Antara): A Puma 3315 trainer aircraft owned by the Indonesian
Air Force (TNI AU) made an

emergency landing in the Oksibil-Okbibab region in Bintang district, Papua
province, on Tuesday.

None of the four airmen aboard the plane sustained injury, spokesman of
the Trikora Regional Military

Command Lt. Col. Imam Santosa said.

"The Puma was on routine training flight," he said. The plane which took
off from Jayapura, capital of

Papua province, at 09.25 p.m. was believed to have developed a technical
problem forcing it to make the

emergency landing, he said. (***)

---

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SYD109325.htm

Australia risks Papua conflict role -- activists
27 Mar 2007 07:19:19 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA, March 27 (Reuters) - Australia risks being dragged into an
undeclared separatist war in

Indonesia's restive Papua province by a "dirty deal" done with Jakarta on
a new security pact, rights

activists and minor party lawmakers said on Tuesday.

A treaty between the two neighbours, signed on the Indonesian island of
Lombok in November, cast

Canberra as a de facto Indonesian ally in the long-running conflict, a
report by Sydney University's

Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies said.

"It's a very dirty deal indeed. We have Australia undertaking a
deliberate, crude act of appeasement,"

report author Peter King said, accusing Canberra of caving in to
Indonesian anger over refugee visas

given last year to 43 Papuan separatists.

The treaty aims to smooth prickly ties between the two countries and
underline Australian support for

Jakarta's sovereignty over separatist-leaning provinces including
mineral-rich Papua, Maluku and Aceh.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said last year the pact would lead to
stronger anti-terrorism

cooperation and joint naval border patrols, as well as joint civilian
nuclear research and Australian sales of

uranium to Indonesia.

But rights groups said the pact, which clears the way for joint
counter-terrorism training between special

forces, would give Indonesia's Kopassus commandos new skills to be used
against Papuan separatists.

King said Australia's government was "blundering in" to the Papua conflict
to make up for embarrassing

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on his human rights record
in Papua.

Independent lawmaker Peter Andren said that if Australia had adopted a
similar treaty ahead of East

Timor's independence, East Timorese leaders like Prime Minister Jose Ramos
Horta might never have

won their long independence struggle.

"The West Papuan situation is the forgotten human rights tragedy of our
region," Andren said.

Upper House Australian Democrats senator Natasha Stott Despoja said the
treaty, which replaces a

defence pact torn up by Jakarta in 1999 after Australia's military
intervention in East Timor, should be "re

-drafted, re-thought and re-written".

Paula Makabory, from the Indonesian rights group Elsham, said Canberra
should insist on access to

tightly controlled Papua for Australian lawmakers before ratifying the
treaty.

Indonesia has been angered by pro-Papuan independence groups based in
Australia and demanded

Canberra curtail their actions.

The treaty was agreed following militant bomb attacks in Bali in 2002 and
2005, as well as on Australia's

Jakarta embassy in 2003, which together killed 92 Australians and scores
of Indonesian and foreign

bystanders.

---

South China Morning Post
March 22, 2007

Papuans Seek Global Support for UN Peacekeepers, Free Elections

Abused by the Indonesian army and exploited by multinationals,
Papuans are seeking self-determination, writes Fabio Scarpello

The Reverend Socrates Sofyan Yoman is a soft-spoken man. But his
voice turns firm when asked what is the way forward for Papua, the
region where he lives and where most locals have been demanding
independence for nearly four decades.

"The only way out is self-determination. We have the right to decide
for ourselves," said the chairman of the West Papuan Baptist Church.

Mr Socrates does not trust Jakarta. Nor does he think the 2001
Special Autonomy Law is the answer to the region's problems.

"In Special Autonomy there was a hope of improving the people's
standards of living; but the law has not stopped the tears and blood
of the indigenous, and the truth is that it gives the Indonesians
more of a chance to use more cruel and inhuman policies to oppress
the Papuans," he said from the provincial capital, Jayapura.

His comments point to the recent splitting of Papua into two
provinces - Papua and West Irian Jaya - as the latest evidence of
Jakarta's bad faith.

"The Special Autonomy Law mentions one Papua," Mr Socrates said.
"Jakarta's move is illegal and a typical divide-and-rule tactic."

His view is shared by most analysts, who agree the move has
backfired, amplifying Papuans' mistrust in the central
government, and undermining the pro-autonomy, moderate intellectuals.

Yet, for Mr Socrates - who claimed to speak for
most Papuans - the Special Autonomy Law's failure is just an added
grievance. His call for self-determination is spurred by what he says
is "constant abuse by the Indonesia Military [TNI], increased
militarisation of the province, relentless arrival of migrants and
the discrimination perpetrated against them on their own land".

Jakarta maintains that the situation is not as bad as the
picture painted, that the pro-independence feeling is limited, and
that the region is governed by locals. In regards to the ongoing
"voluntary" migration to Papua, Saut Situmorang from the Interior
Ministry said that "Indonesians can freely move, and it is good to
foster the sentiment that we are all brothers".

Facts are difficult to confirm. But credible information
validates the Papuans' side of the story. Recent reports
trickling out from the region tell of more than 5,000 people being
forced to flee their houses after a TNI offensive in Puncak Jaya. The
attack was spurred by the hoisting of the Morning Star flag, Papua's
most important nationalistic symbol, by alleged members of the
Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM), last December. OPM is a small rebel
group active in the region since
1965.

Diaz Gwijangge, a representative of the Institute for Human Rights
Study and Advocacy, said the refugees were living in the forest, in
precarious conditions. He added that "some have died of hunger and
diseases, and more will die if nothing is done".
The Puncak Jaya episode is not an isolated case. Locals said"proxy
OPMs are used by the TNI as an excuse to attack and justify their
presence".

General Agus Widjojo, a former TNI chief of territorial affairs,
admitted there were problems in controlling troops, especially in
conflict areas. "The TNI command structure expects to be followed
from top to bottom. But this is still not perfectly implemented as we
are in a transition period," he said.

The reason why the TNI wants to stay in Papua is, basically, money.
The TNI receives only 30 per cent of its budget from the Indonesian
government. In Papua, the TNI is involved in a string of businesses,
including prostitution, illegal logging and protection.

US mining giant Freeport McMoRan - Indonesia's largest foreign
taxpayer - has admitted paying US$5.6 million annually for
"protection" to the TNI, in addition to providing US$37 million to
build a new military base. Freeport is one of the multinationals that
Tapol, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, said "are plundering
Papua's immense natural resources and threatening the very existence
of the Papuans".

Observers say Papua's rich natural resources have been exploited for
the benefit of the TNI, the Indonesian treasury, and the elite in
Jakarta, leaving the Papuan population as one of the poorest in
Indonesia.

Official data shows there are 12,000 TNI troops and 2,500
paramilitary police in Papua. Other sources say there are 50,000. The
TNI has announced a troop increase soon, and rumours say that 15,000
more troops will be sent to Papua by 2009.

"There are soldiers everywhere; in every corner, in every
village. It is scary and intimidating," said a resident.

There are also many reports of abuse by the police. In a recent
report, the International Crisis Group noted that the "human rights
situation has improved with democratisation, but serious abuse still
occurs and the officers responsible are seldom held accountable".

In its latest report, Human Rights Watch underlined how Papua's
political activists are targeted for arrest. The report recorded a
number of people sentenced to long jail terms for raising the Morning
Star flag or expressing dissent. Papuans are also starting to be
victims of a slow "cultural and religious genocide".

"Genocide is not only about killing. It is also about seeing our
culture and religion disappearing with the arrival of migrants," said
Mr Socrates. "Three Royal Line passenger ships bring 15,000 migrants
to Papua every week. You can see mosques everywhere."

The word "genocide" was used in this context in a 2003 Yale
University report, which argued that the influx of non-Papuan
Indonesians was diluting the ethnic Papuans to a point that could be
considered "the act element of genocide". Papuans, a mix of 312
tribes of ethnic Melanesians and mostly Christians, have little in
common with the Muslim Indonesians who have landed in the region
since it was annexed. In 1960, Papuans
accounted for 97 per cent of the population. Today, they are about 50
per cent, although Jakarta stopped its internal migration programme
in 2000. Muslims migrants are the majority in the main cities.

Jakarta, and many of the migrants in Papua, also perceive the native
Papuans as "stupid, drunkards and primitive", according to Catholic
priest Neles Tebay. He said this led to "the presumption of
incompetence and the assertion that Papuans cannot be trusted with
jobs of responsibilities, and need to be civilised".

The discrimination has exacerbated the divide along ethnic and
religious lines and created tension. Credible reports talk of the
sprouting of TNI-backed Islamic militias. Some fear that ethnic
clashes loom.

Papuans' frustration, anger and fear have translated into an effort
to force their plight onto the world stage. "Protesting in Papua only
leads to beatings and arrests," said a local source.

Mr Socrates added that "the only way forward is to involve the
international community". The Papuans' main objective is a revision
of history and the acknowledgment that the 1969 Act of Free Choice
was an injustice. The act was a tainted referendum that decreed
Papua's inclusion within Indonesia. They want it annulled and to vote
again.

This strategy angers Jakarta, which considers Papua an internal
problem and does not want to risk "another East Timor". East Timor
broke away after the international community's outrage over TNI's
abuse forced Jakarta to grant a referendum on independence and the
landing of UN troops in 1999.

NGOs, church organisations and human rights groups have espoused the
Papuans' cause worldwide. There are nods of support from some
politicians in Britain, theUS and Australia, among other countries.
Only Vanuatu recognises Papua as an independent nation and it is
doubtful more will follow, despite the confidence of Benny Wenda, the
Papuan independence leader and
chair of the Koteka Tribal Assembly, who is in exile in England.

But Mr Wenda and many others like him are not about to give up. "I
fear that within 30 years, the Melanesian race will have disappeared
from Papua," he said. "That's why I am not talking about autonomy. We
need the international community to force Indonesia to withdraw from
Papua.

"In its place, we need a UN peace-keeping force, which can guarantee
a free, democratic self-determination vote. I will not stop until our
day of freedom comes."

Forgotten region with a troubled past

Occupying the western half of New Guinea, Papua is virtually unknown
beyond the circle of activists and regional experts. Rooted in
history, the region's predicament is compounded by abuse, ethnicity
and money, and clouded by a lack of independent
reports from the area, where foreign journalists are forbidden to enter.

Papua was not included in the Indonesian declaration of
independence in 1945. The Netherlands, the former colonial power, saw
it as a separate entity from the rest of Indonesia and decided to set
it on a path of self-determination to be achieved by 1970. On
December 1, 1961, Papuans were allowed to hoist the Morning Star flag
and declare independence.

But the region was de facto invaded by Jakarta in 1962. At the
beginning, the Netherlands stood firm and war with Indonesia loomed.
But Papua was too small in a political scenario gripped by the cold
war syndrome.

Washington feared Jakarta could fall under the spell of
communism and pressured the Dutch to let Papua go. The UN watched
powerlessly as Jakarta selected 1,022 Papuans and threatened them
into accepting inclusion within Indonesia in a 1969 referendum,
paradoxically called the Act of Free Choice. A 2005 study by the
Dutch government called it "a sham".

Papuans' sense of betrayal has been inflamed by the harshness of
Indonesian rule. Even before the Act of Free Choice, the OPM had
started fighting for independence. The small, badly armed rebel group
never posed a real threat to Jakarta, but the TNI response has been
disproportionate, with widespread abuse and a civilian
death toll that sources estimate at up to 100,000.

In 1999, a delegation of 100 Papuans met Indonesian president B.J.
Habibie in Jakarta. Their message: Papua wants independence. The
climax of the peaceful push for freedom was the Second Papua People's
Congress, in Jayapura, a few months later, and attended by an
estimated 15,000 people.

A change in the country's leadership, the loss of East Timor, and the
growing pro-independence feeling in Papua worried Jakarta.

A 2001 Special Autonomy Law was the central government's only
significant attempt to reach out to the Papuans. Although wide in
principle, autonomy has never been implemented.

Fabio Scarpello

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20070327.F05&irec=4

Do we truly embrace unity in diversity?

Evi Mariani, Amsterdam

I never thought I would experience it on a street in Amsterdam; that
all-too-familiar taunt Cina, pronounced

like the English China. But it did happen to me and a Dutch friend as we
walked down a street through the

center of this multicultural city. The two of us do look like we come from
China, as the name-caller

thought. We both have Chinese backgrounds: I am a Chinese-Indonesian
whereas she is Dutch with

parents who came from Hong Kong to the Netherlands decades ago.

I was surprised by the incident but I also found it hilarious, due to the
low -- at least, I thought -- likelihood

of experiencing name-calling not on a street in Bandung or Jakarta but
somewhere in West Europe.

Unlike me, who laughed at the incident, my friend did not see the funny
side of it. She, who was born and

raised in Holland, told me she hated such name-calling, which she had
apparently experienced many

times.

"In big cities like Amsterdam, the name-callers are usually not Dutch (she
means white Dutch). But in

Maastricht (a small city where she grew up) most of them are (white) Dutch
farmers, we call them farmers

although they are not really farmers," she told me.

Later, I realized that if the same thing happened to me in Indonesia, my
reaction would be more or less

the same as hers. I would take it seriously and be slightly hurt, because
if it happened in Indonesia, the

experience would not be a one-time funny incident in a foreign country, in
other words, not something you

would share with your friends, laughing over it while sipping coffee or
knocking back beers. Like her, I

think I would be presented with something like a lifetime problem -- a
commitment instead of a one-night

stand.

This incident made me think more about migration and ethnic negotiation
between migrants and their

"hosts" around the world, well, at least in the Netherlands and in
Indonesia. How different the negotiation

process is and how similarly painful is the struggle, especially on the
migrant side with the exception of a

few cases like the American and Australian continents.

One thing I found out in the Netherlands is that the negotiation process
between migrants and their hosts

is no easier than anywhere else in the world. In Holland there are ethnic
groups that are considered

"problematic" like the Turks and the Moroccans and there are those who are
"invisible", like Asians.

This invisibility misleads the public to think that Asians have no
identity or citizenship problem in Holland.

When the Dutch public talk about migrants, or, in Dutch, allochtone, they
are mostly referring to Turks,

Moroccans and Surinamese.

Dismissing the Asian group as a non-issue, I think, is a mistake. There is
the notion that so long as the

allochtone keep out of trouble, as most Asians do, there will be no
serious problems, no discrimination, no

conflicts. This suggests the "problematic" ethnic groups should stop
making problems -- like maintaining

their relatively low-level of education, asking for a mosque, or being
poorer than the rest of the population

-- if they want to be welcomed with open arms that is.

Indeed, compared to the "problematic" ethnic groups, Asians are well-off,
fare better in education,

contribute less to crime statistics and hardly ever ask for a particular
worship place. However, still, not all

members of the host society appreciate this low-profile approach.

"Sometimes Dutch people say ni hao (how are you in Chinese) to me on the
street. They say it's a polite

greeting. But I know better, it's mocking," my friend once told me.

This is only one example of how Chinese people feel they are not really
welcome in the Netherlands.

There are other problems like the glass ceiling issue in some workplaces
where it is difficult for Asians,

like other allochtone, to reach the top.

This is not to say the hosts are the bad guys and the allochtone the
innocent victims. On the other hand,

this story also says the host society is no welcoming angel and the
allochtone are not exactly having a

picnic. Both sides have to work to achieve an ideal multicultural society.

However, I have noticed one good thing about Holland; there are efforts to
address the problems that

come with a multicultural society. The murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van
Gogh pushed the Dutch

people to see they have problems; the murders led to hostile reactions
from many Dutch people but, on

the other hand, this hostility caused the Dutch to question the sincerity
of their tolerance and subsequently

paved the way for dialog and efforts to make the multicultural society
really work. Their first step is to

admit that both sides, host and migrants, have contributed to the problem.
I see this first step as crucial in

setting out on the path to a genuine multicultural society.

I have not seen this first step taken collectively in Indonesia, which
people and national figures always say

is a "tolerant nation", "open to differences" and "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika
(Unity in Diversity) works well". The

anti-Chinese riots in 1998? Blame them on a conspiracy theory, and anyway,
Chinese-Indonesians are

aloof, an attitude tolerant people cannot tolerate.

Religious conflict in Maluku? Blame it on political interests and, again,
think up another conspiracy theory.

Before the "provocateurs" incited the conflict, Christians and Muslims
there lived side-by-side, without any

prejudice or fear of each other.

Once again, Indonesians are tolerant; conflict arises only when their
tolerance is pushed to the limit -- like

the Dayak people's tolerance and openness being pushed to the limit by
years of exposure to the

coarseness and the exclusive economic circle of the Madurese in Borneo.

I'm getting tired of hearing this widely believed notion of tolerance and
openness, the I'm-kind-as-long-as

-you-please-me tolerance and
I-won't-bother-you-as-long-as-you-are-not-demanding openness. Why

don't we admit it, just be honest. We are not tolerant. We fear differences.

We don't like it when the members of our religious congregation are
influenced by the followers of other

religions. We don't like seeing our hometown being invaded by strangers
who become, day by day, more

prosperous than ourselves. We are annoyed by the gospel singing from the
house next door or by the

adzan from the loud speaker of the mosque behind our house.

Let's just say it: To Chinese-Indonesians, Christians, Papuans, Hindus,
those who have communist

grandparents, and other minority groups, we apologize, but don't ever run
for presidential office. It would

be useless and would never happen -- at least not in our lifetimes.

I will take the initiative: I have such problems. And I think you do, too.
We are all guilty as charged. Now,

let's sit and talk and act. I have the strong feeling that we, as a
nation, can overcome these problems,

together.

The writer is a journalist with The Jakarta Post who is pursuing a master
degree in Urban Studies at

Universiteit van Amsterdam.

---

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=31071

Radio New Zealand International

The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific

Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa

PNG arrests 33 for allegedly illegally fishing on the border

Posted at 08:13 on 27 March, 2007 UTC

Thirty three Indonesians, allegedly fishing illegally for shark fins in
Papua New Guinea waters early this

month, have been arrested and are now in police custody.

The fishermen, on five separate boats, have been arrested in Western
province by fisheries officials over

the past three weeks during a surveillance operation along the
PNG/Indonesian border.

The National newspaper reports that Australian authorities have been
concerned that stocks of sharks in

waters between PNG and Australia are being depleted because of illegal
fishing for shark fins.

Three of the boats and their crews of 18 have been been taken to Port
Moresby.

Another 15 people are in custody in Daru.

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070327.H11&irec=10

Council members visit Japan

The government of Japan has invited 10 members of the Regional
Representatives Council (DPD) and five

staff from the DPD's secretariat to attend a training session in Japan,
the Japanese embassy has

announced.

The group, headed by Faisal Mahmud from Central Sulawesi, will visit Tokyo
and Kyoto as well as

Yamamoto city from March 24 to April 2 to exchange views with members of
Japan's Sangiin or House of

Councilors, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Communications, local
administrations and local assemblies

on various issues, including parliamentary systems, local autonomy, and
efforts of local administration in

Japan.

The visit is expected to improve the DPD's function and management,
empower DPD members and

improve their activities, as well as improve the functions of the DPD
secretariat.

The visiting DPD members represent the provinces of Lampung, Bangka
Belitung Islands, West Java,

Banten, East Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Papua
and West Irian Jaya.

Another group of DPD members took part in a similar program in March last
year. -- JP

---

http://www.thenational.com.pg/032207/nation2.htm

 HIV/AIDS infections rising fast at border

By GABRIEL FITO
HIV infection is on the rise in the West Sepik province and a church
organisation has blamed this on the

frequent travels into Jayapura in Indonesia’s Papua province, and the
illegal import of sex products.
Christian Brethren Church lay missionary and provincial AIDS trainer Kevin
Wassam told The National

this week that the number of AIDS-related deaths in the province had risen
in recent years, showing that

the disease was spreading faster and also into East Sepik province.
Mr Wassam said in the remote Lumi district alone more than five public
servants had died this year after

contracting AIDS and he believed there may be more unidentified cases in
other districts.
He said people in the West Sepik and Western provinces were exposed
because of frequent travels and

exchanges with Papua province, which also has a high incidence of HIV/AIDS
cases in Indonesia.
Mr Wassam, who had been conducting awareness on HIV/AIDS for the last two
years in most parts of

West including Drekikir district in East Sepik, said sex products
including pornographic materials were

contributing to the spread.
The sex products are illegal and he has urged police to crack down on them.
He warned that failure by the community leaders and police to rein in such
behaviour would lead to more

HIV/AIDS-related deaths.
Mr Wassam is stepping up his HIV/AIDS awareness campaign and is visiting
Magleri village, in the

Telefomin district next week.
His last stop was at Angugunak village in Lumi, where he trained more than
30 participants, who will now

work with East Sepik provincial AIDS council as volunteers.

---

http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=30053

JAKARTA
Indonesia President's Popularity Drops
Economic grievances have dented the popularity of Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Reuters
Economic grievances have dented the popularity of Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,

which had bounced back late last year from a slump in mid 2006, a survey
showed on Tuesday.

In a poll conducted earlier this month, under 50 percent of over 1,200
respondents across the world's

fourth most populous country said they were satisfied with Yudhoyono's
performance, the Indonesian

Survey Institute (LSI) found. That was down from 67 percent at the end of
last year and Yudhoyono's

lowest rating ever in LSI's monthly polls since he took power in October
2004.

In mid 2006 most polls showed Yudhoyono's popularity down, one putting it
as low as 38 percent. LSI's

polling at the time showed it dipping to 55 percent before surging toward
year end.

The mid-2006 slump was partly caused by a decision to hike fuel prices in
October 2005 and other

economic grievances that mostly centred on Yudhoyono policies affecting
the poor.

LSI said the source of the latest slump was "the resurgence of public
negative judgment on the national

economic condition".

The survey data showed negative public perceptions of several Yudhoyono
economic policies, mostly

linked to foreign investment.

Some critics have attacked Yudhoyono, an ex-general who spent time
training at U.S. army bases during

his military career and speaks relatively fluent English, for leaning
towards the West.

Respondents were overwhelmingly against the sale of state enterprises, a
policy supported by the

Yudhoyono administration in theory, although in practice one where it has
moved slowly.

About 77 percent said they opposed such sales, which have seen some
leading companies and banks go

to foreigners.

"The public aspiration generally leans to views that the state should have
its own companies for the welfare

of the people and opposes government acts of privatising state firms," it
said.

Over 49 percent say foreign mining companies do not benefit the country
while 40.6 percent argue their

presence is justified as long as Indonesia is short of funds and technology.

Indonesia's biggest single taxpayer is the Papua gold and copper mining
operation controlled by U.S.-

based Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc., while Australian, Malaysian and
Canadian miners are

among other active foreign players.

The only economic area in which nationalistic, anti-liberalization opinion
did not dominate was allowing

imported rice to enter Indonesia.

Nearly 50 percent said the policy was justified to lower prices, while 42
percent disagreed because it

would hurt Indonesian farmers.

With a backdrop of these economic grievances, LSI asked respondents which
party they favoured, and

found the party with the most support was the opposition Indonesian
Democratic Party Struggle with 20

percent. More than 30 percent were undecided. (With additional reporting
by Mita Valina Liem)
Published: March 27, 2007 12:25

---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070328.G12&irec=11

Emergency chopper landing in Papua

JAYAPURA, Papua: Technical problems forced an Air Force helicopter to make
an emergency landing at

Terpones airport in Keerom regency.

Four people were on board the helicopter: the pilot, the co-pilot and two
technicians.

The co-pilot, identified as David, was slightly wounded during the
landing. He was rushed to the Air

Force's health clinic in Sentani near Jayapura.

"Only David was injured," said Capt. Biyantoro from the Sentani base.

Biyantoro said that the helicopter made the emergency landing due to a
malfunctioning instrument panel.

"All the indicators on the panel were off, confusing the pilot," he said.
-- JP

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20070325.F13

Sago the Eastern Islands' esteemed staple

Features - March 25, 2007

Suryatini N. Ganie, Contributor, Jakarta

The flour of the sago plant (Metroxylon rumphii) is known as a useful
flour or thickening agent around the

world, but to enjoy sago at its best, pay a visit to the kitchens of the
eastern islands of our archipelago.

It is said that the sago plant originated from East Papua. When the plant
reaches the age of about 10

years it will have several layers around the original stem and form a kind
of sediment used as a staple,

after undergoing a certain procedure. One tree is able to give about 800
to 1000 kilograms of sediment.

Among those who eat the sago sediment as a staple food are the inhabitants
of Maluku and South

Sulawesi. It is made into a flour-like substance that is then cooked into
various foodstuffs.

In Maluku the fine sifted flour is made into a papeda, a rather thick
porridge eaten daily with fish and other

local dishes. South Sulawesi likes its pogalu or kapurung. Manado in North
Sulawesi is on the sweet side

with bagea.

To make papeda, the dried sago flour is finely sifted and then cold water
is poured over it and stirred until

completely mixed. Then boiling water is added and by stirring again the
flour will thicken and is done.

Papeda is usually enjoyed with grilled fish and various soupy dishes and
the unique "spoon" is formed like

a "fork". Another typical Maluku sago preparation is the sagu lempeng, raw
sago in thin and flat sheets

which are pressed into special earthenware forms and baked until done.

It then will be taken out of the forms and dried under the sun. This sago
preparation is mostly enjoyed in

the afternoon with a hot beverage. But some eat it also at breakfast.

In South Sulawesi, for example in Palopo, Tana Toraja, the fine flour
which has been already mixed with

boiling water is taken by two bamboo sticks called pedui, and by making
circular movements the sago is

formed into balls of approximately one tablespoon which then are put into
a vegetable broth.

The vegetables are mostly kangkung, the leaves of the labu kuning
(pumpkin), bayam (local spinach), and

made into sayur bening, or vegetable bouillon.

Fish is sometimes added to the broth, small teri or anchovies. But the
sago balls are also sometime put in

a meat broth like a soup.

Sambal to make the dish more pungent consists of a handful of red chilies,
tomato slices, trassi, salt and

crushed fried, dried anchovies. Some tablespoons of lime juice are served
too for those who like it hot and

sour.

Going to the northern end of Sulawesi, the Manadonese bagea is raw sago
flour mixed with kenari nuts,

formed into balls and baked. The specific Manado bagea is a cylindric sago
preparation of about eight cm

and wrapped in sago leaves.

Watching the eagerness with which some people in our eastern islands
obtain the sago is very interesting

and I admire their patient tenacity.

Before cutting a sago tree, they make some incisions to know whether the
tree contains enough sediment.

When they are of the opinion that it will give a good result, they cut the
tree and divide it in approximately

two meter parts.

The center of the tree, sometimes called hati (hearth), which has a rather
reddish color, is then beaten

with a wooden stick called a nani until they resemble coarse pieces, which
are put into a basket made of

coconut leaves.

To make the pressing procedure of the coarse pieces easier they make it
first into a fine substance.

Finally they put it into a traditional sieve called sahani and press with
their hands.

The liquid sago is put into a special pot made of a piece of a sago stem
which has been discarded from

the sediment.

The liquid obtained is not thrown away but after becoming clear it is
slowly discarded, finally leaving the

sediment. The sediment will be dried so it can be eaten. But as sago does
not content sufficient nutritional

agents, nutritious side dishes like fish or vegetables are usually eaten
with the sago. Well, go sago.

RECIPES

1. Dadar sagu

Sago pancake eastern islands' style

Ingredients:
200 g sago, sifted
75 g fairly young coconut flesh, grated
A pinch of salt

Method:
1. Mix sago and grated coconut and divide into 4 parts
2. Take a pancake pan with a 15 cm diameter and flatten one part sago
covering the pan
3. Over medium heat cook the sago until done and roll whilst hot
4. Serve the sago pancake with a fish dish to your liking or a dish like
the pindang kenari

Makes: 4 servings

2. Bubur Saparua

A speciality from the region of Saparua

Ingredients:
250 g sagu lempeng (flat pieces of sago), supermarket, traditional market
500 ml hot water to soak the sago
500 ml medium thick coconut milk
250 g gula merah (brown sugar)
2 screwpine leaves
A 10 cm cinnamon stick
A pinch of salt
2 boiled sweet corn cobs, kernels scraped

Method:
1. Soak sago in hot water until soft, then sieve
2. Mix coconut milk, brown sugar, screwpine leaves, cinnamon and salt
3. Boil until sugar is dissolved and then sieve
4. Add soft sago, corn kernels and boil again
5. Serve hot

Makes: 4 servings

3. Pindang kenari

A favorite fish dish in Maluku

Ingredients:
1 medium large, 500 g tongkol (tuna), cleaned, cut into 4-5 parts
1 Tbs lime juice
1 tsp salt
4 shallots, finely sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 red chilies, finely sliced
1 red tomato, thinly sliced
A slice of fresh turmeric, thinly sliced
2 Tbs cooking oil, for stir frying
2 sticks lemon grass
4 limau lime leaves
50 g kenari nuts, skinned
400 ml water
1 tsp salt or to taste

Method:
1. Marinate the tuna in lime juice and salt for about 10 minutes
2. Stir fry shallots, garlic, chilies, tomato, turmeric until aromatic
3. Add lemon grass, lemon lime leaves and kenari nuts
4. Add water, let come to the boil, add tuna and season with salt
5. Continue cooking until tuna is done

Makes: 4 servings

4. Pepes sayuran

A steamed vegetable and chicken delicacy

Ingredients:
200 g taro stems (optional), finely cut
300 g chicken breast, cubed
4 shallots, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
A slice of fresh ginger, sliced
« tsp salt or to taste
banana leaves, for wrapping
200 g sago flour
Toothpicks, for fastening

Method:
1. Mix taro stems, chicken meat, shallots, garlic, ginger and season with
salt
2. Divide in 2 parts
3. Take a suitable piece of a banana leaf and put 100g sago flour and half
of the mixed ingredients
4. Close with toothpicks and put into a steamer and steam for about
20minutes over medium heat

Makes: 2 servings

---

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/03/28/ap3560143.html?partner=alerts

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. on Wednesday said it completed equity
offerings that netted $5.6

billion to be used to repay debt incurred with the acquisition of Phelps
Dodge Corp.

The mining giant, which this month completed the $26 billion acquisition,
sold nearly 47.2 million shares of

common stock at $61.25 per share, and nearly 28.8 million shares of 6.75
percent mandatory convertible

preferred stock at $100 per share.

The 6.75 percent mandatory convertible preferred stock will automatically
convert on May 1, 2010, into

between about 39 million and 47 million shares of Freeport-McMoRan common
stock. The first dividend

date will be August 1.

Following the offerings, Freeport-McMoRan will have about 452 million
shares of common stock

outstanding with total debt of about $12 billion, $9 billion net of cash.

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan dipped 66 cents to $64.06 in morning trading on
the New York Stock

Exchange.

---

http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?

id=070328181554.53sclcpv&cat=null

AFP News brief
Indonesian justice attacked over illegal logging

Indonesia's weak and corrupt judicial system has severely undermined
efforts to curb deforestation

because timber smuggling masterminds go unpunished, activists said Wednesday.

They issued a report alleging that corruption throughout the justice
system "conspires to ensure the main

culprits behind illegal logging in Indonesia remain at liberty."

A television documentary accompanying the report contained interviews with
traders in Indonesia,

Malaysia, Singapore and China about how Indonesian timber is smuggled.

The testimony revealed one technique was to doctor documents to show
Malaysia as the origin of the

timber. A police officer on Indonesia's Sumatra island also confessed to
illegal timber trading.

"What we are showing is only the tip of the iceberg," said Yayat Afianto
from Indonesian group Telapak,

which issued the report along with the Environmental Investigation Agency
(EIA).

In 2005 Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sent 1,500 security
personnel to Papua

province to clamp down on illegal logging.

Afianto said the government released a list of 186 wanted suspects soon
after the operation.

But "the Ministry of Forestry complained recently that 26 suspects in
major cases were released by the

courts," he said, adding only 13 small operators had been convicted and
that none of the financiers had

been reprimanded.

Campaigner Julian Newman from the EIA said many markets in Asia and the
West were addicted to illegal

timber.

Industry took "great steps to ensure it gets cheap, illegal timber from
Indonesia and (is) often backed up

by politicians," he said.

Newman alleged that Singapore offered a "safe haven" for timber barons
identified as major players in

Sumatra and Borneo.

The Indonesian government estimates illegal logging has cost the country
around four billion dollars and

some 2.8 million hectares of forest cover per year over the last decade.

Ten countries account for 80 percent of the world's primary forests, of
which Indonesia, Mexico, Papua

New Guinea and Brazil saw the highest losses in the five years from 2000
to 2005, UN Food and

Agriculture Organisation has said.

---

Press Release   WEST PAPUA

The Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)

29 March 2007

Help  West Papua with forest fund.

Joe Collins of the Australia West Papua Association said if the Prime
Minister is serious about forming  a

global fund to fight illegal logging
and forest destruction in the region, he should start by refusing to support
the Indonesian military in any form .

A recent report by two conservation groups: the Environmental

Investigation
Agency and Telapak,  revealed  that the TNI are involved in illegal logging
in West Papua.

The

report , ³The Last Frontier - Illegal Logging in Papua"

reveals that the military in Papua are involved in

every aspect of illegal
logging.

It reported that   military personnel are frequently employed as
security for logging operations and that  the

army is also used to
intimidate local communities opposed to logging operations on their lands.
They are

favoured in logging concessions.

Yet the Australian Government has signed a treaty with Indonesia which
commits us to ties with this same Indonesian military.

The best way to protect the forests of West Papua is

to call on the
Indonesian government to halt the military's illegal activities in such
resource extraction.

 Joe

Collins said "until a genuine effort is made by the Indonesian
Government to reform its military , the treaty

between Australia and
Indonesian should not be ratified".

Joe Collins . AWPA (Sydney)  Mob. 04077 857 97

---

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=31138

Call for the Indonesian government to move against main offenders in
illegal log trade

Posted at 07:34 on 29 March, 2007 UTC

An NGO in Indonesia says efforts to curb illegal logging are undermined by
a weak and corrupt judicial

system.

The Environmental Investigation Agency says efforts to control the multi
billion dollar illegal trade in logs is

frustrated at all stages of Indonesia’s justice system with police,
prosecutors and judges conspiring to

ensure the main culprits stay free.

A spokesperson for the EIA, Julian Newman, says, for example, a government
crackdown in Papua in

2005 identified 186 offenders but only 13 convictions were secured and
included none of the ringleaders.

He says they do believe the government is committed to ending illegal
logging and that the 1500 strong

party sent by President Yudhuyono to Papua in 2005 had an impact.

    “.From our monitoring of trade markets around China and Malaysia, we
did see a decline in Indonesian

smuggled timber reaching those markets, but unfortunately because that
enforcement didn’t touch the

people at the top of the power structure, we are getting more smuggling
again, so it’s on the rise again.”

---