[Kabar-Irian] News: Feb 07 - 13 2008

[Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian]

KABAR IRIAN NEWS

Feb 7 - 13 2008

TOPICS

* Two witnesses disagree over Evidence in the Terror SMS Case
* HIV/Aids awareness drive in Indonesian province of Papua
* Papuan People's Assembly under fire
* Indonesia's HIV package
* AWPA Calls Rudd To Raise W. Papua Issue With Indo
* Indonesia told to be more aggressive in fighting HIV/AIDS
* Mediator needed to oversee Papuan 'special autonomy'
* Political Tasks For Papua
* Papuan separatist groups hold rally in Indonesia's Manokwari
* Nine people remain missing after a ship sank in Papua
* Papua condom week fights AIDS
* Radio Connects Remote Papuan Village
* Vessel sinks on Timika-Dekai waters, one missing
* The voice of Papua
* New Solution Needed for Papua
* Missing From World War II, but Not Forgotten
*  Killer jellyfish population explosion warning
* Burghfield boy moves in with the natives

---



Harian Cenderawasih Pos, 12 Februari 2008 04:20:27
(Translated by KI)

Two witnesses disagree over Evidence in the Terror SMS Case

The SMS terror case involving the suspect Iwanggin Sobar Olif alias Sobar
was in session again in the

State Court in jayapura, Monday 11 of Feb. The agenda was to hear the
statements of the witnesses.

The session, headed by Judge Aman Barus SH, presented 4 witnesses -
Charles Sibi, Joni Samon

Sabra SH, J Kapisa dan Matius Rumbiak. Charles stated that he knew of the
SMS from the mobile phone

of an investigating officer and straight away reported it to his superior
as the witness is a memebr of the

Police.

"After I read the message I reported ito my superiors as this was an issue
that could stir up the people."

said charles.

He explained that he and the suspect always communicated via mobile phone
- be it phoning or sms.

However, as of now he has a new number as the old one was broken.


However the Investigators Evidential  Claim that the witness received the
SMS from the suspect is not

true. "I knew of this SMS from an investigator during the investigations."

This was almost the same as stated by the witness Joni Samon Sabra. He
stated that the Evidence

presented at the court that he recived the SMS from the suspect himself is
not what he stated.

"I never received the SMS in question myself., I knew of it after an
investigator pointed it out to me." He

admitted he knew the suspect well and frequently comunicated via mobile
phone.  "I have 2 phones

active but I am using a new number as the old one has a problem with its
phonebook. "

This was different then the statements of the witnesses J Kapisa dan
Matius Rumbiak. Kapisa seemed

nervous giving testimony and in the beginning he had said that he he had
not received the SMS but now

he claimed he had.


I did get that sms but not about SBY, rather it was about pinang and food
and drink that was poisoned.

He did not say whos ent it. He then forwarded on the sms to his older
sibling and friend colleague Matius

Rumbiak. He added that he had asked for the suspects number but never
stored it. At the moment his

mobile was in the hands of the police as evidence. "The SMS is not even on
my phone so why are they

still holding it?" he asked.


Matius said that he did receive the sms from kapisa but never read it. 
The next day Kapisa told me about

it but I said do not heed it, it is just incitement.

---

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=37926


Radio New Zealand International

The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific

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

HIV/Aids awareness drive in Indonesian province of Papua

Posted at 17:45 on 10 February, 2008 UTC

The AIDS Prevention Commission in Indonesia’s Papua Province is running a
Papua condom week to

combat the sharp rise in HIV/AIDS cases there.

The campaign, which ends this weekend, aims to provide HIV/AIDS education.

The main message is to practice safe sex in order to prevent sexually
transmitted disease or STDs .

The level of HIV/AIDS infection in Papua rapidly rose during 2007.

Papua Health Institute recorded 1,964 positive HIV cases as well as 1,470
AIDS cases.

Of most concern is that the highest rate of infection occurs in the age
group, 15-39 year olds.

The Papua Health Institute said this phenomenon is closely linked to a
lack of community awareness of

these issues.

---


http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20080212.G05



Papuan People's Assembly under fire

Archipelago - February 12, 2008

At least 100 people demonstrated Monday in Jayapura, Papua's capital city,
to demand the dissolution of

the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP), which they said failed to protect the
rights of Papuans.

The demonstrators, carrying banners reading "Bubarkan MRP" (Dissolve MRP)
and "MRP Adalah

Boneka NKRI" (MRP is the puppet of the Indonesian unitary state),
protested outside of the MRP office

against the Assembly, the Indonesian government and the 2001 special
autonomy law for Papua.

It is unknown whether the demonstrators were supporters of the Free Papua
Movement, although the

protest precedes the Feb. 18 visit by Vice President Jusuf Kalla to the
city to evaluate the region's

development.

The demonstrators criticized the MRP for its failure to solve the many
problems plaguing the people

including poverty and unsettled human rights abuses.

"In the past, the MRP was seen as a powerful institution to which other
institutions would give respect, but

in reality it is no more than a toothless lion -- unwilling to say 'No' to
Jakarta in fear of their guns," said

Butcher Tabuni, a demonstrator.

Tabuni said that after six years, special autonomy had yet to improve the
lives of people or to resolve

past rights abuses.

MRP chairman Agus Alua responded to the protest by saying the
demonstrators wanted the same things

for the people as the Assembly.

"We are here for the people and to fight for their rights. What you are
fighting for is similar to what we

are doing, but the difference lies in the way we are taking to reach the
target. We are all aboard the

same ship but we are in different rooms," he said.

Agus said the MRP and the demonstrators would meet again to formulate a
list of common concerns and

recommendations to be handed to the Vice President during his visit next
week.

He said he had no problem with the MRP being labeled a "toothless lion",
saying the Assembly, mandated

by the law to protect the rights of Papuans, would continue with its
mission in a law-abiding manner.

Agus called on the demonstrators to unite with the MRP as a way to force
the central government to

comply with their wishes.

He said the government declared special autonomy as a solution to the
province's increasing demands

for separation,

"But after the solution was accepted, the government has been inconsistent
and the people remain poor."

---

http://mcv.e-p.net.au/news/indonesias-hiv-package-2576.html

 Indonesia's HIV package
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Rachel Cook

Australia’s federal government has committed $40 million to fight HIV in
Indonesia.

The Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced the renewed Australian aid
package in Perth last week,

during his meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr Hassan Wirajuda.

The package, which will be spread out over three years, would mostly
benefit resource-rich Papua,

where more than 3,000 people from a total population of 2.5 million are
infected with HIV/AIDS.

The funding has been welcomed by the Burnet Institute, one of Australia’s
leading medical research and

public health institutes.

“It’s an important contribution,” Gary Reid, Senior Fellow at the Burnet
Institute’s Centre for Harm

Reduction told MCV. “It can never be enough but it is quite a critical
contribution.”

According to the Burnet Institute, injecting drug users make up around 50%
of Indonesia’s AIDS cases,

while 40% of cases occur among heterosexuals. Homosexuals make up the
remaining 10% of cases.

Although it’s hoped that Australia’s contribution will head off a major
epidemic in Indonesia, figures

suggest that slowing the rate of transmission will not be easy.

“The latest [Indonesian] figures for people who are HIV positive from 2006
[is] 193,000 people, so the

epidemic is underway.” Mr Reid explained, “And when it moves into the
general community, which it has

done in Papua, there is cause for great concern. It is in all 32 provinces
of Indonesia. It is one of the

largest growing HIV epidemics in Asia.”

Mr Reid said that the Indonesian government was alarmed by increase.

“They are being more proactive and making information more accessible to
the general public.”

---

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0802/S00112.htm

AWPA Calls Rudd To Raise W. Papua Issue With Indo
Sunday, 10 February 2008, 9:40 am
Press Release: Australia West Papua Association

AWPA Calls on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to raise the issue of West Papua
with the Indonesia's Foreign

Minister Hassan Wirajuda

Joe Collins from the Australia West Papua Association said that AWPA is
still concerned about the ties

with the Indonesian military that the Lombok Treaty commits us to. (The
treaty came into force on

Thursday at a ceremony in Perth which was attended by the foreign
ministers of Australia and

Indonesia.

Prime Minister Rudd will meet with the Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan
Wirajuda in Sydney today.

Joe Collins from the AWPA said that "West Papua will be one of our most
pressing foreign policy issues

in the future, here is the opportunity for the Prime Minister to raise the
issue of West Papua with the

Indonesian Foreign Minister. We all want to have good relations with our
neighbours but good relations

with Jakarta should not be at the expense of the West Papuan people who
are struggling for their right to

self-determination".

Australian governments of all persuasions have believed that a stabilised
region to our north is our best

defence. Kevin Rudd gave a talk last July to the Lowy Institute on the
very subject called Fresh Ideas for

Future Challenges: A New Approach to Australia's Arc of Instability. In
discussing Australian-Indonesian

relations, however, there was no mention of West Papua. Yet it is the
Indonesian military that are one of

the main destabilising factors in West Papua. The activities of the
military, their involvement in human

rights abuses and resource extraction will lead to the very instability
the government is trying to avoid.

The message that Kevin Rudd should give to the Indonesian Foreign Minister
to take back to the

Indonesian President is that Jakarta should dialogue with the Indonesian
leadership to try and solve the

many issues of concern in West Papua.

We know from history that dialogue is the beginning of the political
resolution of such conflicts. To quote

from Nelson Mandela, "One of our strongest weapons is dialogue".

ENDS

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20080209.@02

Indonesia told to be more aggressive in fighting HIV/AIDS

National News - February 09, 2008

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The United Nations has asked Indonesia to be more aggressive in curbing
the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Visiting special envoy for HIV-AIDS for the UN secretary-general for Asia
and the Pacific Nafis Sadik

said several provinces and groups in the country have a high rate of
HIV/AIDS that threatened to spread

nationally.

"The groups and people living with HIV/AIDS don't live in isolation and
they move to the general

population. That's how an epidemic becomes a generalized epidemic," she
told a press conference here

Friday.

"Once it turns into a generalized epidemic, it becomes much more difficult
to control it," she said.

A generalized epidemic is when HIV/AIDS has spread beyond the high-risk
section of the population and

into the general public, including mothers and children, with a prevalence
level of more than 1 percent of

the population.

HIV was first detected in Indonesia more than 20 years ago. Since 2000,
the epidemic has been

concentrated in a number of high-risk groups, with prevalence levels
reaching over 5 percent mainly

among injecting drug users, female sex workers and the transgendered.

In Papua, the situation is far worse and the epidemic has reached the
general population, National AIDS

Commission secretary Nafsiah Mboi said.

"The situation shows that Indonesia is in a stage of a concentrated HIV
epidemic. The HIV situation in

Papua, however, indicates a generalized epidemic," she said.

While praising the existing national plan and activities such the
establishment of a national commission

on HIV/AIDS, Sadik said the country must raise its own resources and funds
to be able to execute the

plans instead of depending on external funding.

She said Indonesia must also address the issue of stigma and
discrimination against people living with

HIV/AIDS as well as denial about the spread of the virus.

"As 50 percent of Indonesia's population are young people and many of them
are vulnerable to being

infected, Indonesia must provide education to this generation on
reproduction and HIV/AIDS issues.

Access to condoms should also be addressed because the use of condoms in
Indonesia is very low,

even in the family planning program," Sadik said.

A campaign to increase awareness among men of the need to protect
themselves and their partners was

required, she added.

The envoy also urged the government to set up prevention, treatment and
support programs that were

gender sensitive as more and more women were being infected with the HIV
virus.

Sadik, who finished her three-day visit to Indonesia on Friday, met with
First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, who

is also the country's ambassador for HIV/AIDS, and several ministers,
including Coordinating Minister for

the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari
and State Minister for Women's

Empowerment Meutia Hatta-Swasono, to talk about the country's efforts to
tackle the epidemic.

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20080209.G01

Mediator needed to oversee Papuan 'special autonomy'

Archipelago - February 09, 2008

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

Papua needs a mediating force to oversee an effective implementation of
special autonomy, similar to

that in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, a religious leader in Jayapura said Friday.

Director of the Peace and Justice Secretariat (SKP), Brother Budi
Hernawan, delivered the proposal in

response to a bill on the formation of four new provinces in Papua.

"In order to implement special autonomy effectively, there should be a
catalyst, like the Helsinki

agreement. The presence of a third party must be mutually recognized by
both parties, like what has

been accomplished in Aceh," he said.

He said the 2001 law on Papua's special autonomy had entered its sixth
year, but had yet to be

implemented consistently.

The law was enacted to give Papua greater autonomy and quell separatist
aspirations in the region.

The latest dispute centers on a draft law at the House of Representatives
in Jakarta to divide Papua into

four provinces.

The Papua Legislative Council and the Papua People's Assembly (MRP) say
they never issued a

recommendation for the proposal. The House, according to councilor SP
Morin, claims the separation

proposal was based on an agreement letter from the Papua legislature and
the MRP.

According to MRP Deputy Speaker Frans Wospakrik, a number of people's
representatives in Papua

earlier met with assembly members to convey their aspirations, but the MRP
has thus far not agreed to

any of the recommendations.

Papua legislators decided to reject the separation proposition. They are
unsure who sent the disputed

letter of recommendation.

"They enacted Law No.21/2001 (on special autonomy) and are aware of the
separation process in

Papua, but they have also proposed the division of the province outside
the procedures spelled out in the

law. They no longer care about the special autonomy law," said Budi.

Papuans, said Budi, oppose the division of the province. They long for
welfare improvement, as

stipulated in the special autonomy law. Only those with vested interests
want separation in the name of

the people, he said.

A press release from the Papua Religious Leaders Joint Forum (FKPPA) said
the division of the

province would create new tensions and encourage the formation of regions
based on tribal and religious

affiliations.

The FKPPA called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to quash the draft
law.

It said the special autonomy law would be ineffective in the absence of a
mediating party directly

overseeing the implementation of special autonomy, especially for the sake
of people's welfare in Papua.

A third party is crucial in Papua in order to prevent the legislative and
executive institutions from

breaching the law on special autonomy, it said.

---

PNG Post Courier
February 6, 2008

Focus

Political Tasks For Papua

By Emmanuel Pok

The problems posed by Irian Jaya and its continued incorporation
into Indonesia remain considerable.

The indigenous Irianese the West Papuans are ethnically and
culturally quite different from the other peoples of Indonesia.

In 1969, an Act of Free Choice was conducted in which the
Irianese voted in a referendum on whether they wanted to remain
with Indonesia or become a separate autonomous state. However,
as the referendum was taken under Indonesian supervision and
control, with few safeguards to ensure that the Irianese would
be given a fair opportunity to exercise their choice, charges of
Indonesian vote rigging abound. Irianese nationalists, who were
determined to fight for an independent Irian Jaya, formed the
Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM or Free Papua Movement). During
the early 1970s, sporadic armed clashes occurred throughout
Irian Jaya, between the Indonesian authorities and West Papuan
freedom fighters.

The OPM continues to operate from bases in The Netherlands,
Senegal, and Papua New Guinea, and partly as a guerrilla force
throughout Irian Jaya particularly in the region near the Papua
New Guinea-Irian Jaya border.

The OPM dissension with the Indonesian Government is based on
several grievances, including:

* forced territorial incorporation into Indonesia;

* cultural imperialism;

* loss of identity;

* alienation of land; and

* political repression.

The Indonesian Government is determined to consolidate control
over Irian Jaya and integrate the area into Indonesia, for
economic, symbolic, and security reasons. Politically, if Irian
Jaya was granted autonomy, other dissatisfied regionally-based
minorities could potentially follow suit.

The Trans-Irian Jaya Highway is being built along the length of
the border with Papua New Guinea in an attempt to cut off the
OPM from its support in Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific
region. Currently, the international community considers Irian
Jaya as a province of Indonesia. The United Nations has not
registered it as an independent state, which has been a
continuous problem for the West Papuans. The international
community generally regards the conflict between the Indonesian
Government and West Papua as internal within the Indonesian
governing body. Consequently, the West Papuans are burdened with
many political challenges.

Political representation

The West Papuans represent themselves in the Indonesian
Government but they have little say in any decision-making. The
Indonesians dominate the Government and the political
bureaucracy, mainly because of the West Papuans fight for
freedom against the Indonesian military. Political
representation and liberty for the West Papuans is strictly
guided.

West Papuans are not allowed to participate in Indonesian
political issues, talk politics in public, or conduct awareness
campaigns concerning their struggle for independence. It is not
tolerated by the Indonesian Government, and people involved in
such activities are arrested by the military.

To escape this persecution, West Papuans have sought refuge
mainly in the Pacific Island regions, but also other parts of
the world. As Papua New Guinea is the closest neighbour, refugee
camps have been set up along the borders, at Vanimo, West Sepik
Province and in Western Province.

Participation in the Pacific Island Forum

The Pacific Island Forum is an important association and
regional integration of all independent Pacific nations that
come together to address issues concerning the region. West
Papua has never participated directly in the Pacific Island
Forum, although it has claimed to be part of the Pacific region.
West Papua has always been enthusiastic about participating in
the South Pacific Forum, but have never been given a chance, and
no indigenous West Papuans have been represented in the forum.
West Papuan participation is through indirect representation,
which is mainly through petitions. When West Papuans think that
an issue needs to be discussed in the forum, they forward it
through a petition.

In every forum, the West Papuans always have a petition. On some
occasions, peaceful demonstrations occur just outside the
location of the forum to remind the forum members that West
Papuans are still struggling and need the Pacific Island
countries support.

Most of their petitions receive scant response, and the Forum
takes very little action. West Papuan issues are not given
priority, probably because Irian Jaya is seen as a part of
Indonesia. Also, the member states of the forum have many of
their own conflicts and debates to deal with, so the West
Papuans petitions receive only limited attention.

In 2003, a representative of the West Papua New Guinea National
Congress (WPNGC) was sent to participate in the forum, and
present a petition. He was refused entry. Further, his request
to be an observer was also rejected. However, the Kanakys of
Vanuatu were given the opportunity to be observers at the forum,
and this is seen as unfair.

Apart from Papua New Guinea, there are other Pacific Island
countries that recognise the struggle that West Papua is facing:

* Nauru: Nauru is a very good supporter of the West Papuans. The
Government of Nauru has brought the issue of West Papua to
register with the United Nations, which was a bold move.

* Vanuatu: The Government of Vanuatu has taken a firm stand to
support the West Papuans. The refugees have set up an office in
Vanuatu, and the chiefs and the whole population are behind West
Papua.

* Solomon Islands: Some refugees have entered the country and
the government officials are very supportive. At one stage, the
West Papua struggle was addressed on the floor of Parliament.

* Fiji: Fiji has supported the West Papuans in their campaigns.
When Fiji was the chair of the Pacific Forum, West Papua s
struggle was included on their agenda.

Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have good trading relations, have
signed several agreements, and have a friendly relationship.
However, the West Papua issue could potentially affect this
bilateral relationship. Many West Papuans escaped political
discrimination and migrated to Papua New Guinea. However, the
Papua New Guinean Government has never made any attempt to
address this illegal migration. The current group of West
Papuans who are camped at the Boroko police station are one
example. The time has come for Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and
the Pacific Island countries to address the West Papua Issue .

The West Papuan struggle for independence began in the 1960s,
and they are still struggling to attain their ambition. One may
ask why it has taken so long for the West Papuans to be
politically free, compared to East Timor.

West Papua has many organisations and groups that are pushing
for a single goal independence and there are many internal
political and power struggles among the leaders of those groups.
Originally, it started as the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM or
Free Papua Movement), but a lack of indigenous unity has divided
this once powerful movement. Leaders had a variety of interests
apart from the fight for independence . Currently, there are
less than 15 West Papuan movements. Lack of unity is one
weakness that is hindering their pursuit for independence.

If the West Papuans stood solidly together in a single
organisation and collectively pushed for independence, then they
would have a greater impact. The West Papuans are not receiving
favourable responses from the Pacific Island Forum, possibly
because the member nations see that they are divided. There are
may be other issues that are impeding their progress. However,
it is up to the West Papuans to devise strategies that will
motivate and pull together the interests of their fellow Pacific
Islands countries, and win collective support for their cause.

Emmanuel Pok is a cadet researcher in the political and legal
studies division at the National Research Institute.

---

>From TAPOL

BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
February 11, 2008

Papuan separatist groups hold rally in Indonesia's Manokwari

Source: Kompas Cyber Media website, Jakarta,
in English 9 Feb 08

On 9 February, This article reported that dozens of protesters
staged a rally on the sidelines of a traditional leaders meeting
in Manokwari on 9 February 2008.

Jack Wanggai, the leader of a pro-independence group in West
Papua Province, threatened to take 'military action' if
diplomatic and political efforts do not receive attention from
the Indonesian Government.

Protesters in Manokwari carry the Morning Star Flag on 9
February. The banner reads: "Melanesian Race Demands Referendum"

The group demanded that the government consider negotiations on
the future of Papua and follow a similar approach to overcoming
conflict in Aceh.

"If the Indonesian Government does not open itself up to
negotiations, it means that this nation discriminates against
Melanesians. It's true we are not Malay, but we are humans who
have the right to determine our own fate," said Jack Wanggai,
spokesperson for the West Papua National Authority (ONPB).

Wanggai stated his strong support for the Republic of Vanuatu's
efforts to table the issue with the United Nations
Decolonisation Committee.

He also threatened that if diplomatic and political measures
failed, his group would not hesitate to seek a military
solution. He said that the struggle for a Free Papua would not
end.

Also present at the rally was the Chair of the Papuan
Traditional Youth organization for Yapen-Waropen, Wilson Uruway,
and the Chair of the Central Committee of the Papuan National
Students and Youth Front, Zakarias Harota.

"Special Autonomy has been in place for six years, but the
people have not seen any results. So it's time we determined our
own fate," said Harota.

---

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=37910


Radio New Zealand International

The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific

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

Nine people remain missing after a ship sank in Papua

Posted at 02:21 on 08 February, 2008 UTC

Rescue workers in Indonesia’s Papua are continuing their search for nine
people who had been on a

ship which sank near Merauke on Wednesday.

Police say the MV Ratna Utama had been carrying 17 people on its way to
Kepi when it sank after hitting

coral east of Habe Isle.

The Jakarta Post newspaper reports that eight people on board the vessel
have already been rescued by

the MV Indo Lautan and rushed to a hospital in Merauke.

---

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2008/2/8/papua-condom-week-fights-aids/

02/08/08 18:32
Papua condom week fights AIDS


Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - The AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) for
Papua Province is

holding Papua Condom Week (PKP) 2008 in some strategic places throughout
the province to combat

the sharp rise in HIV/AIDS cases there.

The campaign runs from 2 to 16 Feb and aims to provide HIV/AIDS education
and socialization to the

people of Papua. The main message is to practice safe sex in order prevent
sexually transmitted disease

(STDs) which can trigger infection.

"The program is completed with film presentations, and public discussion
at Sentani Airport, Phraa

market and Sentani terminal as well as on PT.Pelni ship which sails to
strategic areas," Dewi Wulandari,

Public Relations officer of KPA Papua, said on Friday.

Dewi said, the HIV/AIDS education team from Non-Government-Organization
for AIDS Prevention and

Care as well as KPA Papua staff will be organizing a return trip for
PT.Pelni ship traveling from Jayapura

to Manokwari to educate the ship staffs and passengers about condoms.

The level of HIV/AIDS infection in Papua rapidly rose during 2007. Papua
Health Institute recorded

1,964 positive HIV cases as well as 1,470 AIDS cases. Of these cases 9,38
percent resulted in death. Of

most concern is that the highest rate of infection occurs in the
child-bearing age group, 15-39 year olds.

HIV has already affected the broader Papua population which is mainly due
to unsafe sexual activities.

The use of condoms is due known as the best way to prevent STDs as well as
HIV/AIDS, yet, low

condom usage rate is critical in Indonesia, especially Papua.

The Papua Health Institute said this phenomenon is closely linked to the
unsupportive environment in

implementing safe sex with condoms, and lack of community awareness of
these issues.

By taking part in the program, people will eventually improve their
knowledge in the use of condoms to

prevent STDs and the practice of sex. On the AIDS day ceremony in Entrop
Jayapura on 1 Dec 2007,

Papua Governor, Barnabas Suebu declared Papua Condom Week as part of the
National Condom

Week program to commemorate World AIDS Day. (*)

COPYRIGHT © 2008

---

http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-02-07-voa13.cfm

Radio Connects Remote Papuan Village
By Marianne Kearney
Jakarta
07 February 2008

Kearney report - Download (MP3) audio clip
Kearney report - Listen (MP3) audio clip

A remote village in the central highlands of Indonesia's Papua province is
now better connected to the

outside world because of a new radio station. Marianne Kearney has more
from Jakarta.

Until three months ago, if tribesman from Yahukimo wanted to get the
latest news, they could rely on

word of mouth, or make the arduous trek to town, almost 100 kilometers
away, to buy a newspaper.

Yahukimo had no electricity and no access to radio or TV.

But last September, the villagers took their first step in connecting with
the rest of the world when a media

group helped them build a community radio station, Radio Pikonane. They
also built a small, hydro-

powered electric generator to run the radio station.

During the rainy season, when roads and bridges are washed out, people
from Yahukimo can only

reach town by slogging several hours on foot. When famine struck in late
2005, it took two months to

contact local officials to ask for emergency rations.

It was this devastating isolation that prompted the New York based Media
Development Loan Fund to

provide money to start the radio station.

"There was a failure of the crops and the people in that local community,
basically 60 of them, starved to

death," said Tessa Piper, the organization's Jakarta representative. "So
when we heard this, we felt

clearly that information was key to this, as in so many parts of the
country. So that was what led us to

consider setting up a station there."

Piper says the opening of Radio Pikonane was a huge event in Yahukimo. No
less than the nine pigs

were cooked in the traditional Papuan way - in a massive stone pit. The
radio station was blessed with

the blood of one of the pigs, and by a local priest.

"What I don't think any of us had expected was that around five-thousand
people turned up to this event.

This meant that they had all walked either for hours or even for days to
attend," she said. "And I think that

was for all of us who had been involved in the setting up the station, one
of the most rewarding element[s]

of the whole process, was just underlining how important the local
population felt this station was."

Piper says the highlanders are very enthusiastic about using radio not
just to communicate with other

parts of Papua and the local government, but also to understand what is
going on in the outside world.

She says the residents of Yahukimo often suffer from easily preventable
diseases, so they asked for

programs that provide basic health information.

"Well, malaria is a major, major problem there, but also skin ailments of
a whole variety, which I as a

non-expert can't really comment too much upon," said Piper. "But it's very
clear when you look at the

men, women and children, a lot of them - a very high percentage of them -
suffer from various skin

ailments."

But with the famine still fresh in the minds of the area's subsistence
farmers, agricultural news is also

very popular.

"I've got lots of news, but it's local news - cost of food and other basic
goods, because we know that the

cost of goods is expensive in Papua," said Kathe Vince Damara, one of
Radio Pikonane's lead reporters.

"So, I did a report on the cost of things in Yahukimo versus the cost in
other areas of Papua."

Damara says news on how the local government plans to help develop their
region is also well received.

There are no telephones in the village, or even cell phone coverage, so
listeners do not call in to the

station. But that doesn't stop them from making their views known. Damara
says if villagers like what they

hear on Radio Pikonane, they walk to the station to ply reporters with
questions, turning Radio Pikonane

into a social hub.

In addition to local news stories, Radio Pikonane also broadcasts national
and international news

produced by radio 68H, an independent, Jakarta-based partner station.

28-year-old Damara is still learning the ropes of reporting from 68H,
which trains reporters and provides

assistance to stations across Indonesia.

Radio Pikonane's reporters have all trained with more experienced
broadcasters in Jakarta. But Eni

Mulia, a 68H trainer, says basic reporting is often a challenge.

"There are some students who don't even know how to research, and they've
never used the Internet,

and do research for their news from the Internet. Some of them have
experience, but others have very

little," said Mulia.

With training and small steps forward, Damara and the other Radio Pikonane
reporters are helping

connect the villagers of Yahukimo with the rest of Papua, Jakarta and the
entire world.

---

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2008/2/10/vessel-sinks-on-timika-dekai-waters-one-missing/

02/10/08 13:33
Vessel sinks on Timika-Dekai waters, one missing


Jayapura (ANTARA News) - A vessel carrying heavy equipment early Saturday
reportedly sank in an

area between Timika and Dekai waters in Yahukimo district and a passenger
went missing on the

accident.

Yahukimo district head Ones Pahabol on Sunday confirmed the accident but
he had no idea yet about

factors causing the vessel belonging to the deputy head of the district,
Daniel Rendeng, to sink.

He said the wreckage of the vessel had been found and seven survivors had
been evacuated to Ewer,

Asmat district, before being sent to Dekai on Monday (Feb 11).

"The SAR team using a helicopter belonging to Heli Mission are searching
for the missing person,"

Pahabol said.

On February 7, 2008, Ratna Utama vessel sank around P. Hobee waters on its
trip from Merauke to

Keppi, Mappi district, causing 16 passengers to go missing until now. (*)

COPYRIGHT © 2008

---

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2154867.htm#transcript


7 February 2008

The voice of Papua
LISTEN NOW - 07022008 |DOWNLOAD AUDIO - 07022008
Journalist and former Media Report presenter Andrew Dodd takes us to
Indonesian-controlled Papua.

There's no shortage of media outlets on offer, but do ordinary Papuans
have a voice?
|
HIDE TRANSCRIPT

Transcript
This transcript was typed from a recording of the program. The ABC cannot
guarantee its complete

accuracy because of the possibility of mishearing and occasional
difficulty in identifying speakers.
Antony Funnell: Today we have a special report from journalist Andrew Dodd.

Just over a year ago he took us to Indonesia, exploring the sheer
diversity of that country's media in the

decade post-Soeharto.

Today he takes us back to the archipelago on a visit to the conflicted
region of Papua, in search of its

indigenous voices.

STREET TRAFFIC

Andrew Dodd: The capital of the Indonesian province of Papua is Jayapura.
It's set in the most beautiful

natural harbour, but like most Indonesian cities, it's bustling and noisy.
One way to escape is to jump on

a motor bike and ride up the steep winding track to the mountain lookout
above the town.

On most afternoons you'll find groups of teenagers up there, sitting
together and playing music. These

kids, like at least a third of the Papuan population, are transmigrants.
They moved to Papua from the

island of Ambon, under the Indonesian government's controversial scheme of
resettling people from

overcrowded regions.

And like all Indonesians, they love to sing.

CHILDREN SINGING

Andrew Dodd: As they were singing, I couldn't help noticing the television
transmission towers, hovering

overhead. The towers broadcast the signals of Indonesia's major TV
networks into Papua.

With transmigration creating a flood of outsiders into the province and
with so much media from Jakarta

dominating the airwaves, I was wondering where are the Papuan voices in
Papua's media?

DIAL TWISTING ON RADIO - RADIO MONTAGE

Andrew Dodd: Well the truth is, when you're looking for Papuan voices, you
have to look pretty hard,

especially in the electronic media. But a good place to start is the
studios of Metro Papua Television in

downtown Jayapura.

Last year the giant Metro network that broadcasts right across Indonesia
was invited by the Papuan

Provincial government to set up a local operation.

But how local is it? Bambang Sujatmoko was recruited from Jakarta to run
the network.

Bambang Sujatmoko: We only have limited resources here, so we record our
morning show called 'Good

Morning Papua'. This is a news bulletin in the morning, and for half an
hour. We record it because yes,

we have limited resources.

Andrew Dodd: So it's now 10 minutes to 10pm the night before; you're
recording tomorrow morning's

news now.

Bambang Sujatmoko: Yes. We are waiting until the last news we receive from
our reporters in Jayapura

and from our contributors all around Papua, and after we receive maybe at
9pm or 10pm, we start to

record the show.

METRO PAPUA NEWS THEME

Andrew Dodd: Where is the program broadcast, just here in Jayapura, or
does it go further afield?

Bambang Sujatmoko: We have in three cities and next year we plan to make
ten towers around Papua to

make people receive our television more easily.

Andrew Dodd: So this is part of the vast Metro TV network right across
Indonesia?

Bambang Sujatmoko: Yes. Metro TV already has a network right around
Indonesia, but Metro Papua TV

is different because in this station, we try to make local programs. The
local program is designed to fulfill

the information needs for Papuans especially news about Papua, about
Papua's culture, about Papua's

social problems, about Papua's heritage as well.

Andrew Dodd: How many Papuan presenters do you have here in Jayapura or in
Papua so far?

Bambang Sujatmoko: Right now we only have one Papuan presenter. We are
still in progress to recruit

more presenters from Papua. We have one presenter from Manado, not
Sulawesi, not Sulawese, but we

have three cameramen from Papua and another crew. It's not Papua origin
but they were born and live

in Papua. A lot of Javanese of Makassar or Bugis already born and live
here, they think they are

Papuans.

Andrew Dodd: Yes, I've heard from some local people that they consider it
still to be an issue that there

aren't Papuan faces on Metro TV.

Bambang Sujatmoko: I can understand what the face of Papua people. They
want Papuan faces on the

screen. We have only two months to prepare the station. We are recruit in
hurry, but in the future, I think

there's a lot of Papuan face you can see in our television.
Andrew Dodd: But Metro Papua has its critics. Some journalists believe the
arrival of the network has

more to do with the political agenda of Metro Television's owner, Surya
Paloh and Papua's Governor,

Barnabas Suebu, than it has to do with the quest for local voices in
Papua's media. Here's Ignatius

Haryanto from the institute for Press and Development Studies.

Ignatius Haryanto: Well the problem is I heard some rumours from local
journalists here that the governor

and vice-governor tend to give favour to Metro TV for access of
information here, so that the local

journalists here cannot really have a good relationship with the
government and vice-governor here

because most of the local journalists here are saying that Yes, it's part
of the political deals between this

governor with Surya Paloh who is also the Commissioner of the Golkar Party
in Indonesia. So knowing

about Metro TV's habit about politics, I think it's understandable that
Surya Paloh usually have their own

political and economic agenda. At the same time, by using their media
openly to support his political

ideas. It's strategic to have media here that can also support your
political agenda.

Andrew Dodd: The last few years have seen dramatic changes in Papua. The
province that was formerly

Irian Jaya has been split into two provinces, Papua and West Papua,
although for many locals the terms

are still interchangeable.

But more importantly, in 2001, Papua was granted special autonomy, giving
it at least some control over

its own destiny.

But the question is whether it's worked. Agus Alua is the head of the
Majelis Rakyat Papua, the Papuan

People's Assembly, which represents the interests of the Melanesians, or
indigenous Papuans.

Agus Alua: Special autonomy decide because of Papuan political aspiration
of freed independence, but

the central government decide that we cannot answer your political
aspiration, but we offer a special

autonomy law in order to increase your welfare and then we hope that your
political aspirations will be

minimalised. But all of this cannot work perfectly until now.

Andrew Dodd: So what ways has the Indonesian government ignored, or not
met the requirements of the

special autonomy law?

Agus Alua: Because of in Indonesian campaign, a lot of money comes from
donors, from International,

from the European Commission or the United States or Australian
government. A lot of support or money

for how do you say they can help Papuan people. But this money come and
then how this money can

arrange and how this money can make Papuan people became and their life is
better and better. We

can never see the reality in West Papua. Where it go a lot of money come.
Where?

Andrew Dodd: Can I ask you about the media here in Papua? To what extent
is the media here local and

reflects the voices of Papuans or are you subjected to the media from
Jakarta without much local

content?

Agus Alua: Yes, a lot of media is here in West Papua. Some media work
independently to try to herald

the voices of Papuans but also some media here is very closely work under
direction by military. So not

some media, they try to expose real, real aspiration, but never, never we
can have good access to

exposed news because sometimes military protect this information with
their interference.

ROADWORKS

Andrew Dodd: Agus Alua wonders where all the money's gone.

Agus Alua wonders where all the money has gone. Under the special autonomy
rules, an extra 3,000-

billion rupiyah, that's about $AU365-million, flows into Papua each year.
Of this about half is set aside for

infrastructure projects, like the repair of this bridge in Sentani, near
Jayapura. At least these funds are

transparent, but a lot of the money is not. In fact a committee of the
Indonesian national parliament

recently declared Papua to be the second most corrupt province in the
country.

In a sense this creates lots of good stories for journalists. According to
Danang Widoyoko of the NGO

Indonesian Corruption Watch, 1800 cases of corruption were exposed by
Indonesian journalists last

year. In Papua, where the media is less developed, the challenge is even
greater.

Danang Widoyoko: You can see corruption everywhere in Indonesia, in the
streets, in the Customs, in

the Immigration, in the public service of visas. So corruption's become
their life, and also the corruption

by the political elite and I think a lot of cases that's why, yes, ,
because a lot of cases to be reviewed .

Andrew Dodd: What about in Papua, are there special challenges trying to
report on corruption in this

province?

Danang Widoyoko: Yes, I think Papua is one of the I think challenging,
because after the Government

has passed the Special Autonomy Law on Papua. The national government,
they transfer a lot of money

to Papua province, but we see that there is no significant development or
changing in terms of public

services in Papua. So the main question is where's the money go? How the
elite use the money, and

how the public spending by the government by the local government of
Papua, because the Papuans still

face that old problem here, poverty and also lack of infrastructure. So I
think there is a problem because

a lot of money has been spent by the government but there is no
significant progress on that. So I think

people must question where the money goes.

Andrew Dodd: Reporting on corruption is a job that Berth Kambuaya takes
seriously. He is the co-owner

of Papua Pos, a small newspaper set up in 2004 to compete with the
dominant Chenderahweasih Pos,

the paper owned by the enormous Java Post Group.

Berth Kambuaya: Papua Pos talk a lot about corruption issues in Papua.
People in the grassroots like

Papua Pos because it's what they want. They want to see, they want to read
about the situation in

Papua. A lot of people, especially Papuan people, they make common critic
about special autonomy law,

the funds go to, just go to the government officer for a lot of
corruption, and not go to the people in the

community. So they like to read information about corruption now in Papua,
if you compare with the

Chenderahwasih Pos, they talk a lot about what government, they try to
protect government.

Andrew Dodd: I don't see a lot of government advertising in the Papua Pos.

Berth Kambuaya: They don't like it because we talking about corruption,
the critic of government here in

Papua, but for the people in grassroot, they like this newspaper, because
we're talking about everything

they like it, especially corruption. Yes.

Andrew Dodd: Does Papua Pos support Papua Medeka, a free Papua?

Berth Kambuaya: Free Papua, Papua Medeka, it is difficult problem here in
Papua, so we go the other

way. We want people free in time of life, education and something like
that. Because when we talk about

political independence, politically it's a problem.

Andrew Dodd: Tell me what would happen if you put on the front page of
your newspaper, a call for

Papuan independence? What would happen?

Berth Kambuaya: Go to jail. Go to jail. Yes. You understand that? Yes.

Andrew Dodd: What would happen? Would the military intelligence turn up,
would one of the intelligence

or security organisations turn up and close the building down? What would
occur?

Berth Kambuaya: Sure. That's where we go.

Andrew Dodd: As well as tackling corruption and dealing with the
Indonesian military, Papua's media

faces another challenge. The rate of HIV and AIDS infection in Papua is 15
times higher than the

national average. And the province now has the third highest rate of
infection of any region in Indonesia.

In workshops like this, Papuan journalists are given basic sex education
in an effort to shatter widely held

myths about HIV and AIDS.

The woman leading the training is Indonesia's most senior AIDS bureaucrat.
She's holding a condom in

one hand and a plastic penis in the other and she's quizzing the reporters
about their awareness of the

disease.

Nafsiah Mboi: I'm Dr Nafsiah Mboi, and I'm the Secretary of the National
AIDS Commission.

Andrew Dodd: A huge job.

Nafsiah Mboi: It is indeed. Thank you for recognising that.

Andrew Dodd: You're a Presidential appointee.

Nafsiah Mboi: I am.

Andrew Dodd: You've just spoken for a couple of hours to 20 journalists,
here in Jayapura. That seemed

to be a very important job for you. Is that true? And why?

Nafsiah Mboi: It is. The media is very important for us and it's because
we will never be able to meet as

many people who need to be reached without the help of the media. But also
knowing that media first of

all, journalists actually, they can change the perception and the
knowledge of the people.

Andrew Dodd: You said something fairly confronting, you said journalists
can kill people. What in

particular were you referring to when you said that?

Nafsiah Mboi: In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, we had journalists
who stigmatised people. They

were not truthful, etc., and a lot of people were killing themselves
because they thought that this was a

disease that was shameful, this is a disease of people who don't deserve
to live. And we saw in the early

days, that people did kill themselves because they read this in the
papers. The number of AIDS patients

reported, the highest is in Jakarta, the second is West Java and the third
is here, in Papua.

Andrew Dodd: For a province with a small population, that's extraordinary.

Nafsiah Mboi: That's right. That's why we're so concerned. And that is why
it's so important to have them

on board, to give the right information all the time.

Andrew Dodd: I think her in Papua you've found an alarmingly low level of
awareness about the disease,

even now after all of this time of trying to raise the level of awareness.

Nafsiah Mboi: That's true. First of all because some of the people who
used to talk about HIV still are

using the old version, saying that this is a disease that's for sinners,
this is a disease easy a realistic

advice, and so people are scared, the stigma is very high. And then we
come with the new methods, the

new messages, that this is a disease that is preventable, and if you have
it, it's manageable. This is the

new message. But it's only quite recently, one or two years. The problem
here in Papua is that there are

so many people who cannot be reached, except by radio or by - mostly
radio, because printed media

also only has a very small reach. TV only in the urban areas. But radio
can reach much more.

RADIO REPUBLIC INDONESIA THEME

Andrew Dodd: This is The Media Report. I'm Andrew Dodd, although at the
moment we're listening to the

rather funereal tones of Radio Republic Indonesia from its studios in
Jayapura, where programs are

beamed across the remote districts of the Papuan province. Although state
radio is in many ways still the

official voice of Jakarta, it does offer some local programming, and its
most popular local program may

surprise you.

Here's broadcaster Maria Nomi.

Maria Nomi: Most popular program is death news.

Andrew Dodd: By that you mean obituaries, stories and information about
people who've died?

Maria Nomi: Yes. Most everybody in Papua think it is the most important
thing, who has died today,

maybe they're family. So they concerned to listen our program. I try to
explain: for the first we read

news, local news, and then we read that news and then we try to read about
something very important

from government, from society or NGOs. The people must pay 16,500 for a
one time read because if we

didn't do it, maybe too much that news we can receive, so we must make a
rule, the people must be it. It

is very, very popular.

Andrew Dodd: As well as understanding complex issues such as HIV and AIDS,
there are calls for the

Papuan media to better understand Melanesian culture. That's the quest of
academic and parish priest,

Dr Neles Tebay. He believes the media often misjudges issues in Papua
because journalists simply don't

understand the culture they're operating in.

Neles Tebay: We Melanesian people have Melanesian values. Cultural,
fundamental values that can be

found in all Melanesian tribes. In my opinion, many different activities
conducted in the past by the

government did not take into consideration these cultural values, so the
meaning of a development activity

is decided not by cultural value but decided by something else outside
Papua. So by telling this, I'm

hoping that the journalists will do a report on development activities
from Papuans' cultural perspective.

So that the journalist could help the Papuans to raise the real need, the
real issue, the real problem for

the Papuans so that when they raise their protest against land grabbing,
conducted by any institution,

then the journalist can explain why the Papuans raise their protest.

It is not because of being anti-development, or anti-Indonesian country,
or of being separatist, no. But

the protest is raised based on and guided by the Papuans' cultural
understanding of land. That's why we

need many more Papuan journalists, we need many more Papuan media, but
also we need many more

non-Papuan journalists who really understand Papuan culture.

Andrew Dodd: There's another TV network attempting to generate programming
about Papuan issues.

The recently launched Top TV is certainly local, but whether it's
delivering the kind of programming

Father Neles likes is debatable, especially when it comes to divisive
issues like the recent riots in Timika,

near the controversial Freeport Gold and Copper Mine.

The station's secretary is Bento Madabun.

Bento Madabun: Our program is just about local issues, you know television
doesn't care about Papua,

so we think all of the programs here are about Papua. We want to make
everybody in the world know

that Papua is beautiful, Papua is good, Papua is just not bleeding, it's
not bad, you know, Papua is very

beautiful, people of Papua is very nice, very good, so we want to show to
the world that this is Papua, it's

not bad.

Andrew Dodd: Does that mean you just tell good news, or do you deal with
bad news as well?

Bento Madabun: Good news.

Andrew Dodd: So if something bad is happening in Papua, are you going to
report it?

Bento Madabun: Yes, we're going to report it, but we won't use the bad
angle, we use the good angle for

that case. But we must see something in that bad happening, we can take a
good impact, you know, and

every case must have an impact that we must take the good thing for that.

Andrew Dodd: So there are riots going on at the moment in Timika. If
you're covering that story, how

would you cover it?

Bento Madabun: Yes, we cover this story and we come to the policeman and
we ask about the story, and

we come to people and we ask about the story; and we have two different
stories. So we try to not come

to the difficult story, and we just take the easy story. The same story
from police and the same story from

people, we get that. We not go to a different point about story.

Andrew Dodd: Top TV is just one take on how outsiders are trying to cater
for Papua's needs, and this

seems to be a recurring theme, because with the exception of just a few
outlets, most of the media is

controlled by outsiders. So even with the best intentions, local culture
is often misinterpreted or

overwhelmed by the voices of Papua's newcomers.

PAPUAN CHILDREN SINGING

Antony Funnell: And that special report was from Andrew Dodd, with
technical assistance by Chris

Lawson. Thanks also to Joy Tikoalu for her assistance.

Well that's the program for today. We're always keen for your views, so
please visit our guest book, if

you have a comment to make about this or any other edition of the program.

Next week, the first of our 2008 series of 'On the Record' interviews, and
we'll be joined by competition

regulator, Graeme Samuel, from the ACCC, the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission.

Thanks to The Media Report's production team of Andrew Davies and Jim Ussher.

Guests
Bambang Hamid Sujatmoko
Station Manager - Metro Papua TV

Ignatius Haryanto
Institute for Press and Development Studies, Jakarta

Dr Nafsiah Mboi
Indonesian National Aids Commission

Dr Neles Tebay
Catholic priest and lecturer

Agus Alua
Majelis Rakyat Papua (Papuan People's Assembly)

Bento Madabun
Secretary of TOP TV

Berth Kambuaya
Co-owner and founder of Papua Pos

Danang Wodoyoko
Indonesia Corruption Watch

Maria Nomi
Broadcaster RRI

Presenter
Antony Funnell
Producer
Andrew Davies, Andrew Dodd (reporter in Jayapura)

---

The Jakarta Post
Friday, February 8, 2008

Op-Ed

New Solution Needed for Papua

Neles Tebay, Abepura, Papua

The House of Representative issued on Jan. 22, 2008 some 21
drafts of bills around the creation of 21 new regions in
Indonesia, including the formation of four new provinces in
Papua.

The new provinces include South Papua, Central Papua, South West
Papua and West Papua.

In December 2007, the House also issued drafts of bills on the
formation of new regencies, including six new regencies in Papua
province.

While respecting the House's right to take the initiative to
propose new drafts of bills, the question should be: Who is
going to benefit from the creation of new four provinces in
Papua?

Are the four new provinces created for the sake of the
indigenous Papuans?

Is the creation of new provinces to address problems in Papua?

The reality in Papua speaks that some 1.5 to 2 million
indigenous Papuans have not been able to fulfill available jobs
created by newly created regencies.

They lack skillful people due to the poor quality of education
service in Papua and many jobs are vacant in all regencies
across Papua.

In order to run government services, the local government
accepts non-Papuans coming from elsewhere in Indonesia.

Many migrants have been prioritized in job promotions.

So the migrants are now administratively qualified to occupy a
strategic position in government offices in all regencies.

Meanwhile, many Papuans working as public servants in all
government offices are not administratively qualified to occupy
the jobs.

It means all jobs in the government offices will be occupied by
the non-Papuans.

In such a situation, the House decided to create four new
provinces in Papua.

My question, then, is: For whom have the new provinces been
created?

It is not for the Indigenous Papuans.

The non-Papuans coming from other Indonesian provinces will
certainly occupy the jobs.

The creation of new provinces, in turn, will withdraw more
migrants to come to Papua. It will change Papua demographics.

The number of migrants will increase very quickly. Indigenous
Papuans will become the minority in their own land.

So new provinces are created by Jakarta in order to marginalize
native Papuans.

The formation of new provinces has nothing to do with the
problems in Papua.

Papua has a vertical conflict between the Indonesian government
and the indigenous Papuans.

There are also horizontal conflicts between the Papuan tribes
and between the Papuans and the migrants.

Other problems in Papua include poverty, illegal logging,
deforestation, environmental destruction, poor quality of
education and health care services and the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The House should know the lack of provinces is not the root
cause of all these problems.

That's why these problems cannot be settled through the
formation of new provinces.

For example, Papuans' poverty will be settled through
establishing new provinces.

As is happening now in the newly created regencies, the
government will spend a large amount of money to build new
houses and offices, to buy new cars for the officials, and to
pay for official and unofficial trips for government officials
to all the new provinces.

Although Jakarta will form 10 to 20 new provinces in the Western
half of the Island of New Guinea, the problems in Papua will
remain unsettled.

The creation of new provinces is not the proper solution to
Papua's problems -- but serves to address Jakarta's interests.

The Papuans know the problems in Papua have already been
accommodated in Law no. 21/2001 on the special autonomy for
Papua Province.

So the proper way of addressing the problems is not by creating
more provinces but by implementing consistently the autonomy law.

Papuans, then, cannot continue relying much on the
implementation of the autonomy law. Therefore, only one
possibility remains -- to look for new solutions to Papua's
problems.

And the new solution should be jointly discovered in a genuine
dialogue between the government of Indonesia and the
representative of Papuan People, with the help of a third
neutral party as facilitator.

The writer is a lecturer at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy
and Theology in Abepura, Papua.

---

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/opinion/l10heroes.html?ref=opinion

Missing From World War II, but Not Forgotten

Published: February 10, 2008

To the Editor:

Re “Still Trying to Bring Their Fallen Heroes Home” (front page, Feb. 3):

On March 26, 1943, my grandfather, Capt. Stanley Arthur Loewenberg, and 10
crew members boarded

Pluto, a B-17 Flying Fortress. Pluto took off from Port Moresby, New
Guinea, on a reconnaissance

mission to Irian Jaya Barat. Twenty minutes after the last check-in, radio
contact was lost, and so were

my grandfather and the crew.

Nearly 65 years later, they’ve yet to be found. For many years, my
great-grandmother continued to write

letters to my grandfather, hoping that her correspondence would help bring
my grandfather back. But my

family — and the families of the other crew members — have not had the
relief of closure. The crew is

still missing. Pluto is still out there.

Through memorials, pictures, stories and pleas to the government, those of
us who have lost family keep

their memories, and our hope, alive.

My grandfather may be missing, but he is not forgotten.

David Shulman
Brooklyn, Feb. 4, 2008

---

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/02/08/eajelly108.xml

 Killer jellyfish population explosion warning

By Paul Eccleston
Last Updated: 7:01pm GMT 08/02/2008

It could easily have been the role model for the terrifying creature in
the film 'Alien'.

A perfect toxin-loaded killing machine, there is no creature on earth that
can dispatch a human being so

easily or so quickly.
Box jellyfish and a diver holding a jellyfish

The box jellyfish is so packed with venom that the briefest of touches can
bring agonising death within

180 seconds.

And if comes under sustained attack it responds by sending its compatriots
into a super-breeding frenzy

in which millions of replacements are created.
Box jellyfish

The really bad news is that the box jellyfish and another equally
poisonous species, Irukandji, are on the

move. Scientists are warning that their populations are exploding and will
pose a monumental problem

unless they are stopped.

The warning comes in a film Nature Shock: Jellyfish Invasion to be
screened by Channel 5 on Tues

February 12.

It focuses on the change in behaviour patterns of jellyfish in the Pacific
Ocean off Japan and Australia

due to depleted food resources as humans fish the world seas.

But a similar incident happened much closer to home in November 27 off the
Northern Ireland coast

when a 10 mile wide, 13 metre deep swarm of jellyfish swam attacked the
country's only salmon farm,

wiping out over £1million worth of stock.
advertisement

Billions of small jellyfish, known as Mauve Stingers, flooded into the
cages about a mile into the Irish Sea,

off Glenarm Bay and Cushendun.

On the other side of the world scientists who managed to place tracking
devices on the jellyfish in the

Pacific proved that they were not drifting on the ocean currents but
heading determinedly - and at the

speed of an Olympic swimmer - towards the coast.

In the film perplexed Japanese salmon fishermen are seen hauling in tonnes
of box jellyfish in their nets.

The few fish they do haul in are writhing in their death agonies after
being stung.

An attempt by the Japanese government to protect their fish stocks by
wiping out the swarms using a

fleet of commandeered fishing boats to drag razor-sharp wire through them
backfired spectacularly.

Scientists discovered captured big female box jellyfish were swollen with
millions of eggs - far more than

they would normally carry. Similarly males were carrying billions of
sperm. Trying to kill them had

unleashed a breeding explosion because they are genetically programmed to
ensure their survival by

producing more offspring than normal when under attack.
Swarms of jellyfish

The jellyfish have a formidable array of genetic equipment to help them
survive:
# Four brains that operate competitively in the search for food.

# A highly complex sensory capacity and the ability to distinguish colour.

# The ability to live in inhospitable waters at a depth of up to 10,900
metres.

# A total of 24 eyes with moveable pupils giving them 360-degree visibility.

# Box jellyfish have 6-8ft long tentacles. Just 5-6ft across the body is
enough to kill a human in 180

seconds.

# Venom is released on contact - even after it is dead - and each creature
has 4000,000,000 venomous

fibres.

# Humans who have been stung and survived have needed 30-40 milligrams of
morphine. A broken leg

requires between 5-10 milligrams.

# Despite decades of study scientists have been unable to unravel the
mysteries of its complex venom

but it is known to contain 20 different proteins.

The swarms of jellyfish are multiplying in the Western extent of the
Pacific ocean and threatening 20,000

miles of coastline off Japan, Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea and Australia.

In the film scientists conclude that they swim towards land because it is
easier to kill their main prey -

fish - in shallow water off the coast which puts them on a dangerous and
potentially fatal collision course

with unwary swimmers.

In an experiment off the north Australia coast small netted pools were
created and kept the large box

jellyfish out but people were still being stung. They eventually
discovered the tiny transparent Irukandji -

almost invisible in daylight - was slipping through the holes in the nets.

The only deterrent so far found is a colour - red. The jellyfish simply
ploughed through white-coloured

poles in the water and swam round black poles but they stayed as far away
as they could from red poles.

---

http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2008/02/12/ollie_steers_feature.shtml

Berkshire explorer Olly Steeds
Burghfield boy moves in with the natives

Berkshire resident and intrepid explorer Olly Steeds has just returned
from the far reaches of West

Papua were he spent months with two indigenous tribes. He's been telling
BBC Radio Berkshire about his

adventures.

Intrepid explorer and Berkshire resident Olly Steeds has just returned
from West Papua after spending

months with two indigenous tribes.

Along with his partner Mark Anstice, Olly lived with both the Kombai and
the Mek Tribes and followed

them in their day to day routine learning about their culture and
following their customs.

The pair were in Indonesia filming a new TV show called 'The Lost Tribes'
to be shown on The Discovery

Channel. Their objective was to seek total immersion in an isolated
culture with histories of tribal war,

sorcery and witchcraft.

Now safely back home, Olly spoke to BBC Radio Berkshire's Phil Kennedy
about his adventure.

You can click here to listen to the full interview or read on below for
extracts.

    * LISTEN: Explorer Olly Steeds >

Help playing audio/video

"I think the real explorers are the people who are pioneering the future
knowledge of our planet, they're

the ones who are pushing back the frontiers of understanding, I really
wouldn't call myself an explorer I'm

more of an adventurer and a journalist rather than an explorer.


"It's an incredible privilege, I count myself so lucky, I can't believe a
boy from Burghfield ended up

travelling the world and that someone is paying for me to do it. I keep
pinching myself and waiting for

someone to come to the door and say 'we've booked somebody else' but so
far so good.
You start your new show called 'The Worlds Lost Tribes' Are there
dwindling numbers of tribes and how

do you go about trying to find one?

"There are so few groups, I think the only places where people are living
such an isolated traditional life

like the Mek tribe who we stayed with last summer were in West Papua and
parts of the The Amazon

"So it's very difficult to locate them and find a way in which they are
happy for you to move in with them

and lodge with them and for them to basically be our teachers"

    " I can't believe a boy from Burghfield ended up travelling the world"
    Olly Steeds is still reeling from his adventures


They are aware of the outside world aren't they?

"There are still some tribes that have no contact with the outside world,
I think Survival International put

them at about 20 maybe even 30 small groups so contact with these kind of
people has got to be done in

a really sensitive manner and its not something that we do.


"Where we were in West Papua, missionaries first arrived there in the
1970's so they have so they have

had some contact with the outside world, some people had been outside the
valleys of the Mek and seen

what lies beyond."

What was the food like?


"On the first trip I lost about 20 kilos so this time I filled up on a
diet of pies and beers before I left

thinking I was going to lose a lot and I did, it was basically a diet of
carbohydrates mixed in with a bit of

protein as and when we caught it.

"We had the odd pig which we caught, that was a rare delight otherwise it
was protein from tadpole

kebabs, frogs, grass hoppers, anything with a pulse really!"

last updated: 12/02/2008 at 18:26