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Arrests in Papua as Solomons delegation visits

April 24, 2018, 2:30 pm
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Arrests in Papua as Solomons delegation visits
RNZI 7:08 am today
Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific Journalist 
Nine West Papuans were arrested by Indonesian police in Jayapura today for a small protest over a visit by a Solomon Islands delegation.
The government-led delegation travelled to Papua's provincial capital at the invitation of Indonesia's government, but the way it slipped into Papua province largely under the radar has raised questions.

A Solomon Islands delegation arrives at Sentani Airport in Indonesia's Papua province, 24 April 2018. Photo: Supplied

The delegation was led by Solomon Islands' Ambassador to Indonesia, Salana Kalu, and included the Solomons Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, John Teddie Usuramo, as well as a Special Secretary to the Prime Minister, Rence Sore.
Five representatives from Solomon Islands' civil society were also part of the delegation, including a representative of the country's West Papua solidarity network, Lily Chekana.
A spokesman for Indonesia's government said one of the objectives of the visit was for the delegation to see first-hand the development and situation in Indonesia, particularly in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
The visit was barely publicised in advance, but the Solomon Islanders had been invited by Wiranto, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.
While the delegation was scheduled to meet with Papua's acting Governor inside the provincial government headquarters in downtown Jayapura, a small protest was held outside the building.
Those demonstrating included students, activists and some staff from the secretariat of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.
A spokesman for the demonstrators said their public action was a way of questioning why the delegation came to Papua "silently", but also of conveying thanks to Solomon Islands for its support for West Papuan self-determination and human rights.
Jayapura police broke up the protest and took nine of those demonstrating away before they were able to have access to the Solomon Islanders. It's understood the nine were questioned and soon released.
A brief statement from the Jayapura police chief suggested there was no significant incident outside the Governor's office, and appeared to deny that arrests had been made.
Speaking from his home in the US, the vice-chairman of the Liberation Movement, Octo Mote, expressed disappointment that Honiara had not told them about the visit.
"They didn't inform us at all, so I'm just predicting that one of the conditions of the visit from the Indonesian government was don't tell the Papuans," he said.
Mr Mote suggested it would have been culturally appropriate for the Solomon Islanders to consult with representatives of the indigenous Papuans before they came to Papua.
He said the Liberation Movement still felt its bid for an independent Papua had the support of Solomon Islands behind it.
The government of Solomon Islands has been one of the most vocal on the world stage about human rights abuses in Papua region, widely known as West Papua.
Until Rick Houenipwela recently replaced Manasseh Sogavare as the Solomons prime minister, the government had been championing moves to increase West Papuan representation in regional fora, notably the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
Under Mr Sogavare's chairmanship of the MSG, the Liberation Movement in 2015 achieved observer status in the group.
However Indonesia, whose government opposes the Liberation Movement, has controversially also been given a greater role in the MSG in recent years.
Even though Mr Sogavare remains influential as the Solomons deputy prime minister, the new leadership of Rick Houenipwela appears to be taking Solomon Islands on a different, more Jakarta-friendly approach to the Papua issue.
Although recent data from Indonesia's National Violence Monitoring System showed Papua was the most violent province in Indonesia, the government of President Joko Widodo has embarked on a major infrastructure development drive in Papua which it says is transforming the region for the better.
According to the Indonesian government spokesman, the Solomon Islands delegation would be discussing potential infrastructure development that Indonesia could assist with in the Solomons, particularly ahead of the upcoming Pacific Games.
He said health sector cooperation was also up for discussion, in particular the need of Solomon Islands hospitals for medical equipment such as CT Scanners.
The Solomons delegation was to be in Indonesia for a week. Its movements in Papua are being facilitated, at least in part, by Jakarta's Papuan envoys, Frans Albert Joku and Nicolas Messet.
Former Papuan independence advocates, Mr Joku and Mr Messet both returned to Papua from exile around a decade ago and have been advocating for West Papuans to accept Indonesian rule.
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"Lest we forget" ANZAC Day 2018

April 24, 2018, 4:33 pm
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Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)

"Lest we forget"

ANZAC Day 2018, when  Australians and New Zealanders remember those who fought and lost their lives for their country.  It is hoped that people will also give a thought to those Indigenous people who died in Australia's frontier wars and also to  remember those who are still not free in our region.





Many  younger people might not realise that the people of West Papua helped the allied forces, Australian and American against the Japanese who had invaded West Papua then known as Dutch New Guinea. Australians operated particularly in the Merauke region of West Papua. 

In what many consider a betrayal, Australia acted against the wishes of the West Papuan people for independence.   Australia supported the fraudulent act of free choice and actively impeded two West Papuan leaders from going to the UN in New York carrying testimonies from many West Papuan leaders calling for independence". Clemens Runawery and Willem Zonggonao were removed by Australian officials from a plane just weeks before the UN supervised vote. (in Australia’s then colony of PNG). This was at the request of the Indonesian foreign minister. They were on their way to the UN in New York carrying testimonies from many West Papuan leaders calling for independence. Because of Australia’s involvment, they never had a chance to plead their case. 

AWPA added their names with Chief Theys Eluay to the Honour Roll for peace at Addison Rd Community Centre in Marrickville.




Other plaques added in the past included for Arnold Ap and John Ondawame 













And a connection to West Papuan supporters
 Australian soldiers who were in Merauke in the war 

 

John Collins, pictured below  speaking at rally in Hyde Park Sydney in 2006 in support of the 43 West Papuan Asylum seekers. He served in Merauke in the war. 






Dr Norman Lee's son, Jefferson (below) protesting outside Indonesian Consulate in Sydney .  








          


          














         


 Anne Noonan's father also served in Merauke.






Lest we forget , the oppression of the West Papuan people continue

Arrests in Papua as Solomons delegation visits


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1) West Papuans cautious about SIG visit but remains hopeful

April 25, 2018, 1:02 am
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2) Papuan chef Charles Toto serves up sustainability and environmental protection in a platter
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1) West Papuans cautious about SIG visit but remains hopeful  
25 April 2018


West Papuans arrested by Indonesian police during the Solomon Islands Government's delegation visit.








West Papuans arrested by Indonesian police during the Solomon Islands Government's delegation visit.
Civil society groups in West Papua including local non-governmental organisations, youth groups, students, women associations, church leaders and indigenous leaders are cautious about a surprise visit to West Papua by a Solomon Islands government delegation.
The Solomon Islands government under the leadership of former PM Manasa Sogovare was a staunch supporter for the West Papuan struggle.  However this recently organized visit under secrecy without any notification to West Papuan groups on ground has raised concerns about a possible shift in the Solomon Islands government’s stand in relation to the West Papuan struggle.  

It is understood that the Solomon Islands government delegation which included representatives from the Solomon Islands civil society are in West Papua at the invitation of the Indonesia Government. The timing of the invitation to West Papua follows shortly after the Solomon Islands government held consultations for a policy on West Papua where local Solomon Islanders have been vocal about their support to the struggle.    

In welcoming the Solomon Islands government delegation to West Papua, student leader, Christ Dogopia apologized, saying, “we are not free to express ourselves in the land of our ancestors, thus we cannot welcome you well and honorably as Melanesian relatives.” 

“There was not proper communication and we only just learnt of the visit when the delegation arrived in Jayapura…it is typical of the government of Indonesia to organize such as visit under a cloud of secrecy and unilaterally by through the foreign ministry, but we didn’t expect this from a close member of the Melanesian family. 

The local free West Papua coalition has questioned the motives of the Indonesia Government, asking why the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP), a member of Melanesian Spearhead Group, was not formally informed of the visit. 

“We question the intent and purpose of this visit as it reminds us of a similar visit led by the former Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Lilo in 2014, which was organized secretly by the Indonesian government and military without any involvement or connection to civil society,” questioned Dogopia. 

In a statement by the civil society coalition of West Papua, they have expressed support to the ULMWP as the organization who represents their political aspirations and is advocating for West Papuans’ right to self-determination, which has been denied by the Indonesian Government and international community for over 50 years. We insist that the government of Indonesia and other states respect that right. 

“We wish to emphasize that since West Papua has been forced into shackles through the 1969 Act of NO Choice, there have been human rights violations, forced seizure of Indigenous lands for large mines and oil palm plantations, transmigration programs and food projects all in the name of development but which have harmed the people of West Papua, by creating conflict, depriving us of our land and ability to manage our own resources, and human rights violations.” 

The statement further states that the presence of the Indonesian military and police has disrupted the lives of indigenous West Papuans, causing havoc and gross violence all for the sake of foreign investment and capitalist’ interests. 

Dogopia said there are a lot of social and unjust issues faced by the indigenous West Papuan population which the visiting delegation may not be made aware of, “one of which is the flow of population from outside West Papua is increasing and our people are becoming a minority and marginalized.” 

The coalition appeals to the visiting Solomon Island Government delegation to independently hear and experience firsthand realities of the Melanesian people in the land of West Papua. 

Meanwhile, an attempt to seek answers from the West Papuan Governor in a peaceful demonstration outside the government complex on Tuesday resulted in nine West Papuans arrested. 

All nine arrestees were detained and questioned before their release.

By Joey Tau
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Mongabay Series

2) Papuan chef Charles Toto serves up sustainability and environmental protection in a platter


by  on 24 April 2018 | Adapted by Basten Gokkon

  • Charles Toto is the founder of the Jungle Chef Community, a network of enthusiasts from across the Indonesian region of Papua who promote sustainable living and environmental protection through local cuisine.
  • Toto came up with the idea after seeing foreign documentary makers and tour groups embarking on weeks-long treks in the Papuan wilderness with nothing more than instant and canned food.
  • Over the years, he has learned to make the best use of the ingredients served up by the forest and the sea, and has taken his unique mission to culinary shows across Indonesia and abroad.
  • But for Toto and his group, the opening up of Papua’s forests to palm oil and other commercial operators, aided by a government-backed infrastructure push, threatens the region’s natural wealth and heritage.
Charles Toto’s epiphany came during his time working in the kitchen at a hotel in his home region of Papua in eastern Indonesia.
The hotel catered to foreign visitors, many of whom flew in to shoot documentary films, sometimes for several weeks at a time, in the lush jungles of Papua, home to some of the last unspoiled wilderness areas in the country.
“When I saw them bringing in so much luggage, I wondered to myself what they would eat in the forest,” Toto told Mongabay Indonesia.
He had friends among the guides who accompanied the groups, and they filled him in: instant food and canned sardines, for the most part.
Toto was 16 when he enrolled in a culinary program at a vocational school in Jayapura, the Papua provincial capital. At that point it wasn’t his life’s dream; he’d had his heart set on becoming a lawyer. But after missing out on a place in a regular high school, which would have set him on his way to a career in law, he figured he would sign up for vocational school.
After the three-year course, he wound up in an entry-level job washing dishes at the hotel in Jayapura. And that’s when the tourists came into his life, ushering in the epiphany: Why not, he thought, cater to these tour groups by providing them with fresh, wholesome meals during their trips?
The idea went over well, and Toto embarked with his first tour group in 1997, a year after leaving vocational school. That inaugural trip lasted some six weeks, with the group trekking through the densely forested Baliem Valley in the Papuan highlands, then heading west to the now-famed coastal paradise of Raja Ampat.
“A hotel chef would think to bring his own meat because it’s more hygienic,” Toto says. “But I think food from the forest is more hygienic, it’s cleaner and organic.”

Charles Toto serves up sustainability and environmental protection in a platter. Image by Luh De Suriyani/Mongabay-Indonesia.
He learned from the locals about the meals that could be conjured up using the resources found nearby, and bartered ingredients with them. It was, in effect, a return to his roots as a native Papuan, and an embrace of the principle that has served him to this day: “The forest is a market for Papuans to shop in without having to spend money.”
Toto thrived in his culinary niche, constantly learning something new amid the rigors of trekking and sailing through largely unexplored places. Disaster was no obstacle, either. “We got stranded on an island once for three or four days. We had to make do with whatever [food] was there,” he says.
As his business thrived and his renown spread, Toto built up a network of like-minded chefs. In 2008, he founded the Jungle Chef Community, which brings together dozens of local chefs from across Papua who specialize in rustling up meals from ingredients they find in the forests. Toto and his community have appeared at culinary events across Indonesia and around the world, promoting their unique mission.
“We train our members how to identify local cooking ingredients and how to make traditional Papuan food,” Toto says.
Foraging and hunting locally is widely accepted as a sustainable use of natural resources, and cuts the cost and carbon footprint from shipping in food from farther away. In the case of the Jungle Chef Community, it also helps sustain interest in ancient practices, values and culture that are at risk of slowly dying out as younger generations of Papuans embrace a more modern lifestyle.
“The key is to be able to obtain and [creatively] use what nature provides you with at that time and in that place,” Toto says.
The Jungle Chef Community also runs a program that teaches cooking traditional food to children, along with other practices to protect the environment, such as waste management and planting mangroves.

Charles Toto gives a presentation at an international food festival in Bali. Image courtesy of Ubud Food Festival.
But the most intense pressure on the group’s mission comes from the government’s sweeping infrastructure development plan that activists say threatens the pristine forests and rich biodiversity of Papua.
“A lot of sago farms are being sold off as [infrastructure] is developed in Papua,” Toto says. Sago has for generations been a staple food for the lowland peoples in the island of New Guinea and the Malukus, but local dietary preferences are increasingly shifting to rice, a more land- and water-intensive crop that is also eating up Papua’s sago farmlands.
Another threat to the region’s forests is the arrival of the palm oil industry, in search of new lands after the wholesale deforestation of much of Sumatra and Borneo, and incentivized by the infrastructure expansion. Large swaths of forest-clearing are already being reported in Papua, along with a high number of hotspots — the calling card of an industry notorious for slash-and-burn clearing.
Nearly 200 square kilometers (77 square miles) of forest have been cleared in Papua’s Merauke district since 2014 for a single plantation, according to the Washington-based World Resources Institute (WRI), with 10 square kilometers (3.9 square miles) being opened up just since October last year.
The challenges are mounting, but if anything they’ve encouraged Toto to come up with even more ways to introduce local Papuan cuisine boasting fresh ingredients from its forests.
“Papua is indeed rich in natural resources from its forests,” he says, “and the Jungle Chef Community introduces it through cooking.”
Banner image: A river valley in a mountain range in West Papua province, Indonesia.
FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.
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1) Facebook still censors West Papua photo – ‘nudity’ or politics?

April 25, 2018, 1:47 pm
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2) Indonesia hits back over Freeport's Grasberg mine environmental claims
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1) Facebook still censors West Papua photo – ‘nudity’ or politics?
By  - 
 


                            The Facebook "censored" Ben Bohane image after a "facelift" by the Vanuatu Daily Post.

Facebook has censored a West Papuan image by a Vanuatu-based photojournalist for the second time in less than four days – this time “within one minute” after the photograph was posted.
Port Vila resident Ben Bohane has specialised in Melanesian, kastom (custom) and conflict photography for more than two decades. He runs the agency Wakaphotos and is the author of the book The Black Islands: Spirit and War in Melanesia.
Last weekend, a two-page feature spread authored by him about a perceived threat to the region’s stability because of Indonesian political influence in the Melanesian Spearhead Group was published by the Vanuatu Daily Post under the headline “Caught in a pincer”.
The article was subsequently republished in the Pacific Media Centre’s Asia Pacific Report on Monday under the headline “China? No, let’s face the elephant in the Pacific room”,
Facebook alerts on the Vanuatu Daily Post, Asia Pacific Report, Pacific Media Centre along with Ben Bohane and PMC director Professor David Robie’s newsfeeds were removed with blocks saying the featured image had “violated community standards”.
The Bohane image taken in 1995 showed an armed OPM (Free West Papua) guerilla and several other men wearing traditional nambas (protective sheaths).
The photo has previously appeared in The Black Islands and other outlets, and can be seen in a 2006 Bohane photoessay at Pacific Journalism Review.
Facebook ‘test’
Bohane today carried out a Facebook “test” by posting his OPM image again.
He told Pacific Media Watch that within one minute he was “notified that the content has been removed and I am now banned from posting anything on FB for 24 hours”.
Bohane wrote on his Facebook page:
“Facebook seems to be censoring West Papuan images of mine used in news stories, saying they don’t meet ‘Community Standards’ because of “nudity”. 
“Either that or the Indonesian government is reporting the images to be removed because they don’t want Papuan resistance photos spread on the web. 
“Memo to Facebook – this is how Papuans live! Your ‘Community Standards’ obviously don’t include Melanesian culture. 
“I have sent FB messages to complain, as have some regional news media outlets, and am posting images here as a test to see if they will be removed again and the problem persists….”


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2) Indonesia hits back over Freeport's Grasberg mine environmental claims

Jakarta: The Indonesian government has hit back at suggestions that tough new environmental regulations imposed on the giant Grasberg copper mine are politically motivated, or related to the partial-nationalisation of the mine.
The Grasberg mine is the world's second-largest copper mine and is located in the highlands of the restive Indonesian province of Papua. It is 90.64 per cent owned by US miner Freeport McMoran, while Rio Tinto also holds a stake.

The Indonesian government has asked Freeport to reduce the volume of "tailings", the waste byproduct from the mining operation, disposed of in nearby rivers from 50 per cent to five per cent. The rest of the tailings are disposed of on land.
That request has drawn an angry response from Freeport, which is negotiating with Indonesia to sell down part of its stake so the government would control at least 51 per cent of the mine.

But the Inspector-General at the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ilyas As’ad, on Wednesday fired back at criticism from Freeport chief executive Richard Adkerson over the new rules.

Mr Ilyas explicitly dismissed suggestions the new edict was politically motivated or designed to force Freeport's hand during the divestment negotiations.

"We are only talking about environmental issues," Mr Ilyas told journalists on Wednesday, "it’s completely about the environment".
Mr Ilyas, one of the most senior officials in the Environment Department, said the government planned "intense discussions" with Freeport over the next six months to resolve the problem. Meetings are planned with the company about every two weeks to resolve the matter.

"We have to find out what technology [can] handle it [the tailings], we have to seek the way out, we won’t sacrifice everything, right, because 16,000 people are working out there," he said.
Earlier, Mr Adkerson had told journalists that a deal had been struck 20 years ago with the Indonesian government on how and where to dispose of the tailings and that change, given the mountainous terrain, was simply unachievable.
“I’m concerned that behind it was political motivations,” he said, according to the Wall Street Journal. Freeport's share price has tumbled on news of the proposed change to tailings disposal.
"It cannot be done within six months, 24 months, five years. This is so far out of bounds it cannot be done and as I said it is addressing a problem that doesn't exist," Mr Adkerson said.
Mr Ilyas said the government did not want all operations to halt at the mine but that "some operations did not have permits yet. We want them to process the permit. So [the order to] stop operations is only related to activities that do not have permit yet".
He said the legal division of his Department had found 47 violations of environmental regulations during a visit to the site in September 2017. Thirty-nine had subsequently been fixed but "the big ones left are mostly related to tailings".
The ministry's view, put by officials a meeting with journalists in Jakarta, is that Freeport's Indonesia office was notified some time ago that stricter regulations about how and where the tailings were to be disposed of were imminent.
The Grasberg mine creates produces 10,000 tonnes of tailings per hour, half of which is disposed of in rivers, according to the Department.
Back in March Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo ordered his Energy Minister Ignasius Jonan to conclude long-drawn out negotiations over Indonesia taking a majority stake in the mine, through a state-owned company, by the end of April.
Mining giant Rio Tinto has the right to 40 per of copper produced by the mine above a certain quota until 2021, and after 2021 it is due to receive 40 per cent of all production.
Rio has been negotiating with Indonesia to sell its stake in Grasberg, which would go some way towards Indonesia realising its desire to hold a majority stake in the mine. 
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1) New research shows impacts of malaria in pregnant women in Papua and how to beat the disease

April 26, 2018, 2:58 am
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2) Christians in Papua fear growing Islamization 

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1) New research shows impacts of malaria in pregnant women in Papua and how to beat the disease
Date 4/26/2018 4:29:08 AM
(MENAFN - The Conversation) This is the fifth article in our series on 'Mother and Child Health' to commemorate Indonesia's Kartini Day on April 21. 
This year's theme for World Malaria Day, April 25, is 'Ready to Beat Malaria'. This article aims to shed a light on malaria in pregnancies and how it will affect babies. 
Malaria in pregnancy poses substantial risks to mothers and their babies. Pregnant women are the most vulnerable population because they have a bigger risk of getting infected by malaria compared to male adults. 
One in four people in Indonesia lives in areas with a high risk of contracting malaria. In 2016, malaria killed 161 people in Indonesia. Globally, the disease killed 445,000 people in 2016. 
There are only few reports on the impact of malaria infection in pregnancy in Indonesia and there is little data on the number of pregnant women with malaria in the country. Our team at the Eijkman Institute has tried to fill this gap by studying the effects of infection by the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, in pregnant women and their children in Timika, Papua, a province with high rates of malaria infection. The study also attempts to identify a correlation between malaria infection in mothers and the health of their babies. 
What do we know about infection in pregnancy? 
Symptoms of malaria in pregnant women vary, depending on their transmission level and the women's immune status. In sub-Saharan Africa , malaria in pregnancy is mostly due to the infection of parasites known as Plasmodium falciparum. In Asia-Pacific and South America , infection by Plasmodium vivax parasites mostly occurs. 
When Plasmodium falciparum infects red blood cells, the parasites can accumulate in the placenta as their way to avoid host immunity. 
Studies have shown that antibodies protect women against malaria infection. Other studies indicate that women with their first pregnancy are more susceptible to malaria infection than those who have been pregnant several times as the latter has higher antibody level that blocks the parasites. 
In Asia and Africa, the latest data show that women with their first pregnancy are likely to have more of the parasites in their blood compared to those with multiple pregnancies. 
A study demonstrated that antibodies played a role in improving the condition of the babies from infected mothers. 
This finding suggests that developing vaccines to target malaria in pregnancy is feasible. Even though several studies have found that antibody against Plasmodium falciparum infection in pregnant women will reduce the risk of having poor birth outcomes, such as still birth and low birth weight, other reports have suggested that this may not always be the case due to different antibody responses. 
High vs low endemic region 
The 2017 report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and earlier research indicated that in a high endemic region, where malaria infection is common, immunity to the disease is high. 
The report also stated that some infections occurred with no symptoms. But even with no symptoms, the parasites may still exist in the placenta. This can cause anaemia in pregnant mothers and low birth weight for first babies. 
In a low endemic region, the pregnant women's immunity against the disease is lower than those in high endemic areas. This means pregnant women in a low endemic region face bigger risks of having severe anaemia and other adverse outcomes such as stillbirth and premature births. 
The eastern part of Indonesia remains a high endemic area for malaria. The latest studies in Timika found that malaria infection can lead to maternal anaemia, premature deliveries, stillbirths and low birth weights. Meanwhile, drug resistance and lack of preventive steps, such as providing bed nets and anti-mosquito sprays, have contributed to the worsening effects of malaria infection in pregnant women. 
Findings in Papua 
For our research in Papua, we collected blood samples of pregnant women and their placental sections to study their antibody response to malaria. We have identified a number of factors that contribute to malaria cases in pregnant women. 
Our research shows consistency with previous findings that conclude that women in their first pregnancy have lower immunity than women with multiple pregnancies, making the former more susceptible to malaria. 
Analysis of placental sections shows approximately 40% of women with parasites detected in their bloodstream harbour no parasites in their placentas. This means that finding parasites in the bloodstream does not indicate infection in the placenta. 
Interestingly, our preliminary data suggest that a high level of parasites in the bloodstream has caused low birth weights in babies. The high number of parasites in the blood is, however, not always associated with parasite accumulation in the placenta. 
These results suggest that precautionary steps are needed for pregnant women with parasites found in their bloodstream to minimise risks of babies with low birth weights. Treatments with drugs should aim to reduce the number of the parasites in their blood. 
Next steps 
Indonesia has introduced integrated efforts to reduce the adverse outcomes of malaria for mothers and their babies. These include distributing bed nets and providing prompt treatments for pregnant women. 
Recently, scientists from the Eijkman Institute, the Timika Research Centre and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK studied the impact of malaria screening and treatment on infected pregnant women. 
We are still waiting for the results and plan to translate these into practice so the National Malaria Control Program can adopt these findings in much-needed policies to fight malaria. 
Further studies are needed to identify factors affecting the health of babies born to mothers infected with malaria. The studies are expected to help provide better treatments for these babies. 
    Indonesia Malaria Pregancy Papua 

The Conversation
MENAFN2604201801990000ID1096774016
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2) Christians in Papua fear growing Islamization 

Christians concerned as mosques mushroom, shrines damaged and Muslims seen to be spreading influence



April 26, 2018 

Yan Kossy has lived in Jayapura, the provincial capital of Papua, for many years without being disturbed by the influx of outsiders but he said he finds the recent accumulation of mosques in the surrounding area unsettling.
For example, Muslims recently built an Islamic center and cemetery on a ground higher than where people have lived and sources of water for thousands of years.
Some have taken it as a sign of disrespect and a bid to show the superiority of their religion while others fret about the environmental impact it could wreak.
"The cemetery could contaminate our drinking water," Kossy said.
Christians were further antagonized when the road to a popular Christian shrine was damaged during the construction of Islamic buildings in the area.
Meanwhile, after the Islamic center was built another problem arose: the loud sound from nearby mosques as they made their calls to prayer.
Marianus Yaung, a resident of Jayapura District, said Muslims who have come to the region often fail to respect the rites or ways of local people.
"They come and build whatever they want," Yaung told ucanews.com, citing the construction of the controversial Al Agshan mosque in Sentani.
The mosque was built higher than church buildings in the surrounding area, causing Christians to protest.
"They should have discussed their plan first with local people. But they didn't, which has been interpreted as a sign of disrespect," Yaung said. 

Dominikus Surabut, a tribal leader in Papua, said everyone has the right to practice their faith and develop their religion.
However the growing Muslim presence in the area, coupled with their recent behavior, is becoming problematic as it also provides room for the spread of radicalism, he added.
A number of radicalized Muslim groups have gained ground in Papua, he said, citing the existence and influence of Hizb ut-Tahrir, based in Keerom District in northern Papua. It controls 500 hectares of land and centralizes all of its activities there.
Surabut said he has also heard rumors about the presence of Jamaah Islamiah in Merauke, southern Papua, which has set off more alarm bells among local people.
"We are more concerned about the presence of Hizb ut-Tahrir [a pan-Islamic group] in Keerom because we know some of their members have received military training," he added.
The government banned the group last year but it remains active in the country with considerable influence.
 
Missionaries insulted
The threat to Christians and clergymen because more evident recently after Muslim cleric Fadzlan Garamatan accused missionaries of misleading the public.
In a video that was circulated in March, Garamatan blamed European missionaries for the excessive amounts of alcohol being imbibed by Papuans.
He also accused them of bathing members of the public in pork fat in adherence to bizarre cultural traditions.
According to Islamic teachings the consumption of pork is forbidden because Muslims believe the meat and fat of a pig absorbs toxins and can be 30 times more toxic than beef.

Papuan Christians denounced such accusations and reported the cleric to the police on March 26.
Rev. John Bangsano, who coordinated the Ecumenism Movement of Churches in Papua, said Garamatan insulted European missionaries and insulted the country as a whole with such unfounded remarks, which appeared to be aimed at fomenting unrest.
"He has indicted the Papua people as a whole," he said, adding Garamatan has set up numerous social media accounts in a bid to discredit and humiliate missionaries and Papuans alike.
"We oppose such hate speech. It destroys the sense of social harmony that has been well-established in Papua between Christians and Muslims long before he came along," he said.
Father John Djongga challenged the cleric and said his accusations were baseless.
"If he has any evidence to back them up he should be able to show who the missionaries are and identify where they are located," said the Catholic priest.
As of late April, the case remains under police investigation.
Boy Rafli Amar, the nation's police chief, said the police are taking the case seriously and branching out to track to cleric down.
"We are coordinating with the directorate of cybercrime in Jakarta because it is possible the cleric is not in Papua," he said.
 
Deliberately derailing Christianity
Franciscan Father Konstantinus Bahang said the reactions of Christians to Islam of late have been fueled by both fear and, increasingly, loathing.
Their fear stems from the growing domination of Islam in all spheres of life, particularly the economy as Muslims open more businesses that further ramp up competition.
"Most of the people who are well-connected and who are prospering are Muslims, while Papuans are getting left out," said Father Bahang, a lecturer at the Fajar Timur College of Philosophy of Theology in Jayapura.
Islam symbols are becoming more commonplace in public spaces, he said.
"These are public service spaces for Christians and Muslims alike, but now Muslims control them," he added.
Jayapura city now has over 80 mosques and mushollas (mosque-like prayer rooms) built in or near local markets, residential areas and government offices.
The neighboring district of Sentani has 24 mosques while Jayapura District has 52.
From the perspective of religious psychology, this mushrooming presence can be seen as a bid to try and marginalize other people's religious beliefs, Father Bahang said.
Papua has a population of about 3.6 million people, of which 61.3 percent are Protestants, 21 percent are Catholics and 17.4 percent are Muslims.
Father Bahang said many indigenous children are already being educated or groomed to serve as the next leaders of Islam in the region.
"These children will some day have to face their own people," he said.
He sees this as a deliberate attempt to sabotage the church by weakening its influence.
"The good thing is that, despite the differences, the sense of solidarity among Christians remains ironclad," he said.
Many people in Papua have still not cottoned on to fact that the growing presence of Islam represents a potential political threat.
He said if tensions boil over the results could be disastrous and conflict could escalate quickly.
"All parties need to work together to find solutions before that happens," Father Bahang said.
He suggested the authorities prepare a regulation specific to the region to control interreligious tolerance in Papua, in accordance with the Special Autonomy Law.
Religious leaders also need to work on building dialogue to preempt further problems and involve people at a grassroots level, he added.
When asked to comment on this issue, Saiful Islami Al Payage, chairman of the Papua chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council, said that "all of these things need to discussed internally."
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1) Optimizing West Papua`s abundant natural resources

April 26, 2018, 1:56 pm
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2) Australian spy chief to face tribunal in fight to keep East Timor, Balibo records secret
3) Review: ‘Safeguarding Australia’s security interests through closer Pacific ties’
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https://en.antaranews.com/news/115489/optimizing-west-papuas-abundant-natural-resources
1) Optimizing West Papua`s abundant natural resources
Reporter:   7 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian province of West Papua is known for its agriculture, mining, forestry products, and tourism that should be optimized for improving the welfare of the local community.

Situated at the west side of Papua Island, West Papua covers the area of Papua`s Bird Head and other smaller islands surrounding the province.

Pearls and seaweed are mostly produced in the Raja Ampat Islands, while the only traditional weaving industry is also situated in this province in South Sorong District.

In addition, tourist attractions, including the Cendrawasih Bay National Park located in Teluk Wondana District, Lorenz National Park, Raja Ampat Islands, and Meyah Waterfall, are among the mainstays of West Papua Province.

The Government of West Papua Province is currently planning to optimize the utilization of its potential natural resources for lighting programs in remote and isolated areas.

According to West Papua Energy and Mineral Resources Office Chief John A. Tulus in Manokwari, the potential of water and high temperature will be utilized to support the community`s welfare through the development of new and renewable energy-based electricity infrastructure.

Tulus remarked in Manokwari on Wednesday that West Papua Governor Dominggus Mandacan was keen to ensure that the hinterlands and small islands were able to receive electricity similar to those living in urban areas.

State electricity company PT PLN has implemented the Bright Indonesia Program, and in the areas of Papua and West Papua, the program will be applied through the Bright Papua Program.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has launched a program called Bright Indonesia aimed at increasing the electrification rate in the eastern part of the archipelago over the next few years.

Through the program, Indonesia aims to boost its electrification rate to 97 percent of the country`s total population by 2019 by building new power plants, with a total capacity of 35 thousand megawatts.

The program is expected to provide electricity to underdeveloped villages in Indonesia`s eastern provinces, such as Maluku, North Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, Papua, and West Papua, where several people still do not have access to electricity.

Power plants in Indonesia`s eastern provinces will rely on new and renewable sources of energy to generate electricity, with more than 300 thousand megawatts accounted for throughout the archipelago.

Eastern Indonesia mostly comprises islands. Instead of installing cables from one island to another, local sources, such as renewable energy, can be used.

Hence, efforts to optimize the utilization of potential natural resources, implemented by the local government, will be undertaken to welcome the national and regional programs.

There are still several potential natural resources in West Papua that are quite strategic, but they are yet to be utilized optimally to boost the people`s welfare.

"Coal exploitation activities are being conducted in the Sorong area though not yet optimally. The Maruni cement plant in Manokwari, so far, utilizes coal from Sorong as a power station, and that is what we expect," Tulus remarked.

He noted that another mineral that holds potential is nickel in the Raja Ampat District, but infrastructure, such as a smelter, must be built by the nickel company.

To optimize the utilization of natural resources and empowerment of the local people, the provincial government of West Papua plans to hold an international conference on biological resource varieties, ecotourism, and creative economy.

Head of the West Papua Research and Development Center Charley Heatubun remarked in Manokwari recently that delegations from several countries as well as local and foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are expected to participate in the conference on Oct 7-10 this year.

The conference aims to demonstrate to the central government and other countries that West Papua is serious in applying an environmental conservation program, Heatubun noted.

Currently, the West Papua Development and Research Center is coordinating with a coalition of local NGOs, World Wildlife Fund, International Conservation, Asia Foundation, and other NGOs, the embassies of Norway and Britain, as the donor countries, for the conference.

"The targets we would like to achieve are to revise the area and layout plan to reflect West Papua as a province that is committed to environmental conservation," Heatubun stated.

In addition, the center wants West Papua to have a national park or new preserve area and to prepare an intensive scheme of fiscal and fund transfers as an incentive for the conservation of forests and varieties of biological resources in West Papua.

Heatubun said he is looking for a change in the paradigm, especially in the central government, that tropical forest conservation, both in West Papua and Papua, is a capital for development.

Thus, the size of virgin forests, which are still well-maintained and preserved in the two provinces, would be included as an indicator for calculating the general and special allocation funds for the provinces.

"This would serve as a fiscal incentive to be offered to the regional administrations by Jakarta to support sustainable development, as we know that sustainable development goals have been ratified and have become a commitment of all countries in the world," he noted.

Results of the conference will be reported by the governor to the central government and will be presented at the forthcoming meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to be held in Bali on October 12-13, 2018.

(O001/INE)
(T.O001/A/KR-BSR/O001) 
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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2) Australian spy chief to face tribunal in fight to keep East Timor, Balibo records secret
By defence reporter Andrew Greene
Updated about an hour ago
Australian intelligence operations that took place during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor should stay secret, the head of the country's overseas spy agency will argue today.

Key points:

  • Academic Clinton Fernandes has been fighting for access to ASIS records on East Timor
  • Australia's spy chief is scheduled to appear at a tribunal to explain why ASIS does not want the documents made public
  • The documents in question relate to Australia's covert operations during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor in the 1970s

In what is believed to be a first, Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) director-general Paul Symon is scheduled to appear at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to put forward his organisation's case.
The spy chief's testimony is in response to Canberra-based academic Clinton Fernandes, who has battled since 2014 for access to the 40-year-old ASIS records on East Timor.
At first ASIS and the National Archives insisted that they could not even confirm or deny whether such records existed, claiming that to do so would cause damage to Australia's "security, defence or international relations".
Professor Fernandes challenged this position in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and in February the National Archives backed down, conceding it did in fact have such records.
"It was common knowledge that Australia was involved in East Timor and was very interested in Indonesia in the 1970s," Professor Fernandes told the ABC.
"To say that even a confirmation that ASIS records exist would harm national security seems ridiculous to me.
"We hope in the proceedings to ask questions that make [ASIS director-general Paul Symon] justify why on national security grounds these materials should continue to be withheld 43 years after the event."
The University of New South Wales academic, who is a former Defence intelligence officer, believes the classified ASIS records could offer more insights into the events leading up to the killing of five Australian journalists in Balibo in 1975.

"We hope to find the extent to which the covert instrument of statecraft was involved," Professor Fernandes said.
"The documents would shed light on Australian diplomacy and Indonesian military operations in Timor. The true facts, the details about the diplomacy and the human intelligence before and after that haven't really been exposed.
"It would be a real victory for all of us concerned with transparency.
"What is the intelligence, the Secret Intelligence Service telling us about developments in Timor or foreknowledge about the killings of those journalists?"

ASIS evidence to be kept secret during private hearing

Much of the proceedings in today's historic tribunal hearing will be kept secret after acting Attorney-General Greg Hunt last week agreed to an ASIS request that part of its evidence be given in private.
In a letter dated April 19 explaining his decision, Mr Hunt said he had "given serious consideration to all the material and the reasons for and against the disclosure of the information".
"I have determined that the disclosure of this information would be contrary to the public interest by reason that it would prejudice the security, defence or international relations of Australia," the letter said.
"Therefore I am satisfied that it is necessary to issue a public interest certificate to protect the information they contain.
"This certificate will also cover any information given as evidence that discloses the contents of the confidential affidavit."
Professor Fernandes said the move meant ASIS would be able to give its evidence in secret and he would not be able to hear it, but will later be asked by the tribunal to respond to it.

Records sought on Australian links to CIA plot in Chile

Among the historic ASIS records Professor Fernandes is also hoping to have released are those covering the spy agency's operations in Chile before the 1973 coup.
Chilean president Salvadore Allende was overthrown by military forces who installed dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Two officers from ASIS were stationed in Santiago following a formal request from the United States, but little else is known about their activities.
"ASIS ran agents in Chile for the United States, and if the United States can release 16,000 pages of records on its involvement in the coup in Chile, surely Australia can do the same," Professor Fernandes said
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3) Review: ‘Safeguarding Australia’s security interests through closer Pacific ties’

BY James Batley 
27 April 2018 06:00 AEDT

Greg Colton’s ‘Safeguarding Australia’s security interests through closer Pacific ties’ sits in a long tradition of mainstream thinking about the significance of the Pacific for Australia’s national security. 
It is a tradition that draws on intertwined anxieties: on the one hand, concern the Pacific might be a vector through which external threats to Australia are directed; on the other, concern that weakness or internal instability within Pacific island states might itself represent a threat to Australian national interests. 
These anxieties have been on florid display in recent weeks via hyperventilation surrounding media claims China had approached Vanuatu regarding the establishment of a military base.
Colton’s paper was written prior to the Vanuatu controversy but, to his credit, it’s doubtful the work would have required much amendment even if it had been written after the story had broken. It is a timely contribution to the discussion.
The analysis covers familiar ground in describing an increasingly complex scene in which non-traditional players, such as China, Indonesia, and Russia, have in recent times intensified their activity in the Pacific. Colton asserts that the “extent to which China has strategic aims in the Pacific Islands region is still a matter of contention”. That remains the case following the recent Vanuatu kerfuffle. 
The paper is less strong when describing the other side of the question; the role that Pacific island countries themselves have played in actively pursuing new relationships, networks, and opportunities over recent years, both among themselves and globally. Such diplomatic activity has complicated life for Australia in the region just as much as the emergence of the “new players”. 
Both strands have contributed to a thesis of “Australian declinism” in the Pacific that has taken hold among a number of commentators who are familiar with the region, and many who are not.
At the declaratory level at least, it’s hard to see how Australia could be much clearer about the significance the Pacific holds for Australia’s national security. Last November’s Foreign Policy White Paper highlighted relations with the Pacific as one of only five “objectives of fundamental importance to Australia’s security and prosperity”, and outlined “helping to integrate Pacific countries into the Australian and New Zealand economies and our security institutions” as an “essential” policy aim.
The 2016 Defence White Paper sets out a quasi–Monroe Doctrine in the Pacific, asserting that Australia will work “to limit the influence of any actor from outside the region with interests inimical to our own”. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s remarks regarding the Vanuatu/China reports – “We would view with great concern the establishment of any foreign military bases in those Pacific island countries and neighbours of ours” – sit squarely within this policy framework.
Colton offers a handful of suggestions aimed at reinforcing Australia’s role as the leading security player in the region, while simultaneously deepening a sense of “partnership” with Pacific island countries. Bringing off this juggling act has long been the holy grail of Australian policy in the region. 
His suggestions range from the intriguing (establishing a Pacific Maritime Coordination Centre) to the courageous (striking compacts of free association with Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Nauru). The latter idea has been kicking around Canberra corridors in one form or another for more than a decade. 
Government policy, especially the new Pacific Labour Scheme, now acknowledges explicitly that these three independent Pacific microstates warrant special treatment. That’s a good thing, but the broader kind of relationship espoused in the paper (providing these countries “with a host of government services” in exchange for a formal security veto) remains likely to falter on the simple grounds of cost alone. But kudos to Colton for promoting the idea.
The commitment, set out in the Foreign Policy White Paper, to establish an Australia Pacific Security College is not mentioned by Colton. Tender documents for this institution are yet to be issued, but we can expect that it, and the major new Pacific Maritime Security Program (the patrol boat scheme), will be key focal points for regional security cooperation for many years to come.
Colton overreaches in stating that “concluding the proposed Biketawa Plus Declaration should be Australia’s primary strategic objective in the region”. The original Biketawa Declaration dates from 2000. The idea for an updated regional security declaration crystallised in the minds of thoughtful Pacific islanders following the conclusion of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands in mid-2017, but it reflects deeper currents of thinking about the needs and aspirations of Pacific island countries. 
Australia has a seat at this table, to be sure. Colton’s prescription for an assertive Australian role in shaping Biketawa Plus to suit Australia’s national security needs, however, undervalues the extent to which Pacific island countries want to drive this agenda themselves, and would put Australia’s relationships in the region at unnecessary risk.
Indeed, if Colton’s piece has a weakness overall, it is the absence of a sense of Pacific island countries as active players in future regional security arrangements.
Australia still has many assets in the region that can be too easily glossed over, or ignored, by those of a declinist bent. Still, Colton is right to stress that Australia needs to be engaged.
Relationships remain the key to getting Australian policy in the Pacific right. On this score, Australia could do better.
To be sure, Julie Bishop and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells can point to numerous visits of their own in the region. But the recent Vanuatu controversy served to highlight the fact that, even though he has been in power for more than two years, Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai is yet to make an official guest-of-government visit to Australia. 
That has been an avoidable mistake on Australia’s part. And Salwai is by no means alone among his Pacific colleagues in this respect. At the very least, the Vanuatu/China story should have served as a wake-up call on this front.
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1) SHOTS FIRED AT FOREIGN FREEPORT EMPLOYEE IN TEMBAGAPURA, PAPUA

April 27, 2018, 1:42 pm
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2) Indonesia plans to improve electrification in Papua region
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HTTPS://EN.TEMPO.CO/READ/NEWS/2018/04/27/056917990/SHOTS-FIRED-AT-FOREIGN-FREEPORT-EMPLOYEE-IN-TEMBAGAPURA-PAPUA

FRIDAY, 27 APRIL, 2018 | 20:36 WIB
1) Shots Fired at Foreign Freeport Employee in Tembagapura, Papua


Susi Air's Pilatus Porter aircraft landed at Arwanop airfield in Timika, Papua. The airfield was developed by PT Freeport Indonesia. ANTARA FOTO

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – An employee of Freeport Indonesia who is also a South African national was shot at by an unknown person today at the Hidden Valley mile 66 housing area in Tembagapura District, Papua.
The South African citizen, Morne Francis Ras, was being fired on eight to ten times while walking towards his car parked in front of his house.
Fortunately, Morne survived this incident.
According to a testimony of a Mine UG employee, Craig Eugene Johnson, Morne Francis immediately lied down beside his car on hearing the shots. 
An ambulance and the authorities arrived at the scene minutes after the incident began, and an investigation into the area’s vicinity ensued.
The mining company sounded the alarms following the incident to warn employees and people in the vicinity of the Hidden Valley. Morne Francis was ushered to the Tembagapura Hospital at around 08:50 Indonesian Eastern Time (WIT) for medical care. 
Up until 10:00 WIT, investigation by local authorities was still afoot, as they combed the forest located behind the Hidden Valley mile 66 housing area. 
ANTARA
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2) Indonesia plans to improve electrification in Papua region
12:38 pm on 27 April 2018 


A programme called 'Bright Indonesia' has been launched by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to increase the electrification rate in the country's eastern provinces.
Antara News reported that through the programme, Indonesia aimed to boost its electrification rate to 97 per cent of the country's total population by 2019.
This would require the building of new power plants, that would include the use of renewable energy sources, with a total capacity of 35 thousand megawatts.
The programme was expected to provide electricity to underdeveloped villages including in Papua and West Papua.
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Pro Jokowi of Papua Province Appreciates Performance of Transportation Minister

April 29, 2018, 2:30 am
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Pro Jokowi of Papua Province Appreciates Performance of Transportation Minister
Sunday, 29 April 2018 | 13:30 WIB
JAKARTA, NNC - Chairman of Pro Jokowi (Projo) Regional Executive Board (DPD) of Papua Province, Moses Morin, appreciated the performance of the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi for the opening new lines of sea toll road and air bridges transportation facilities, so that the one price fuel and cheap cement price in Papua became a reality.
"Indeed, during the construction of airport facilities and docks in Papua what is very disturbing is the land, but we want to emphasize the issue of land compensation is the responsibility of the local government so that in the construction there must be cooperation between the parties concerned," said Morin in a written release, in Jakarta, Saturday (4/28/2018).
According to him, all facilities are opened from coastal areas to mountainous areas of Papua. Thus, the Minister of Transportation has run the Fifth Principle of Pancasila, that is, social justice for all Indonesian people.
The most important sector in Papua is transportation and transport regulations. According to Morin, the task carried by Budi Karya is quite heavy now.
He asserted his side keeps escorting all forms of connectivity development from sea, river and air to give the common pricing of the needs of the people of Papua so that the Land of Papua can benefit from all government programs.
Morin added that his party also supports one of the Ministry of Transportation's programs related to the plan to build airports in areas that are very isolated and in areas still occupied by groups such as the separatist Agdugume.
"This proves the country is present there as long as it is still in the territory of NKRI [Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia]," said Morin, as quoted from Antara.
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Mimika hostage taking, do not accuse any groups, says legislator

April 29, 2018, 1:57 pm
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Mimika hostage taking, do not accuse any groups, says legislator


                                          Papuan Legislator, Mathea Mamoyao – Jubi / Arjuna


Jayapura, Jubi – Mathea Mamoyao, Papuan legislator elected from Mimika and surrounding areas, said people should not accuse some groups upon the hostage-taking incident and the case of the rape of teachers that were occurred last week in Kampung Aroanop, Tembagapura Subdistrict, Mimika District last week.
Mamoyao, who is an indigenous woman of Kamoro, a tribe of Mimika District, was not sure the insurgent group members are the perpetrators. “I am not sure they did it because I’ve just returned from Timika. I searched the information about the incidents during my two days visit there. The villagers told me that the perpetrators wore a mask. So, how could we possibly identify them?” she said on Thursday (26/04/2018).
Even though she has no clue, she assumes this incident deliberately created. “The police must handle it immediately because the regional elections in seven districts, as well as the election of the governor, are getting closer. Don’t let anything that can hamper the national agenda happen,” she said. (*)
 
Reporter: Arjuna Pademme
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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KNPB: We already threw away Indonesian propaganda and dialogue

April 30, 2018, 1:30 pm
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http://tabloidjubi.com/eng/knpb-we-already-threw-away-indonesian-propaganda-and-dialogue/

KNPB: We already threw away Indonesian propaganda and dialogue

admin
An illustration of KNPB activists during a demonstration in Jayapura City, Papua – Jubi
 
Jayapura, Jubi – West Papua National Committee (KNPB) refused the proposal of Acting Papua Governor, Soedarmo, to talk about development on the Land of Papua.
“It’s incredibly wrong for making propaganda of development as the sale of Indonesian colonial diplomacy in this region. The fact is that more than 50 years Indonesia built upon the exploitation of Papua’s land, Victor Yeimo, the Chairman of KNPB, said on Saturday (28/04/2018).
According to Yeimo, all infrastructures in Papua are neo-imperialist (capitalist) projects. Those projects were done for the sake of development while Papuans are continuously being killed or arrested on their land. “All packages of colonial economic and capitalist politics will not stem the struggle for independence of the Papuan people,” Yeimo said.
He further said that the Indonesian government’s diplomacy would not diminish the spirit of the people in the Melanesian countries to remain standing in favour of West Papuan independence as well as the West Papuans who want freedom from the colonialism. “We already threw away the Indonesian dialogue and propaganda,” said Yeimo to respond Soedarmo’s invitation.
On the other hand, Soedarmo previously claimed to be ready for a dialogue with the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) and KNPB, as well as other groups who still voiced the independence of Papua.
“As the acting governor, I am ready for a dialogue. However, it should be on the principle of the unitary of the Republic of Indonesia and how we develop Papua in the future,” Soedarmo stated in a press release.
He said the dialogue should not be formal. “That’s a form of my appreciation. Whether in a café, I am ready to do it. So, it’s not necessary to have it in the office,” said Soedarmo. (*)
 
Reporter: Victor Mambor
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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1) DSE: we are not part of West Papua trip

May 1, 2018, 7:16 pm
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2) Indonesia aims to be free of malaria by 2020
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1) DSE: we are not part of West Papua trip
02 May 2018 Author  Editor



             The SI delegation that traveled to West Papua arriving into Sentani Airport in Indonesia's Papua province on 24 April 2018. 


DEVELOPMENT Service Exchange (DSE) has rejected claims that it is “officially represented” in a government delegation that visited West Papua last week.
The delegation, led by the Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister, John Usuramo, included chairman of DSE Inia Barry and other civil society activists.
But DSE, the peak body for civil society in Solomon Islands, said it has not endorsed anyone to represent civil society on this visit.
“Participants are acting solely as individuals,” DSE general secretary Jennifer Wate said.
“They do not represent DSE or any other civil society organisation in Solomon Islands,” she added.
Mrs Wate said DSE advocates for Human Rights, Justice and self-determination and has continued to show its strong support for the people of West Papua.
“DSE has continued to advocate for the Solomon Islands Government to uphold these values in our country's trade and foreign policy.
“DSE values the strong relationships between West Papua and Solomon Islands Civil society.
“We admonish all members of this group for failing to include, consult or even inform West Papuan civil society of their visit.”
Mrs Wate said the DSE management was informally made aware of the trip only the evening before participants flew to Indonesia.
“The participants assured DSE management that they are attending in an individual capacity, and would not be representing DSE or any Civil Society organisation.
“DSE was not privy to details of the trip or its terms of reference.
“We call on the Government and in particular the Prime Minister’s Office to formally approach DSE or its members on any matters that require CSO sector representation.”
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2) Indonesia aims to be free of malaria by 2020
Reporter:   11 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia, with almost half of its population residing in malaria-endemic areas, aims to be free of the mosquito-borne disease by 2020.

Malaria is a potentially deadly disease caused by parasites and transmitted to people through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito, but it can be prevented.

Hence, malaria elimination initiatives have officially been declared by the Indonesian Ministry of Health, which has set a target to free the country of the disease by 2020 through total eradication.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that in the outer island groups of Indonesia, the incidence of malaria is much higher, with an almost equal prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax infections.

Global fund is supporting the malaria control program in Indonesia through intensification of malaria prevention and control activities. In the first round, the Ministry of Health is targeting to reduce malaria morbidity in five areas, with the highest endemicity, all of which are in the eastern Indonesian provinces.

The Ministry of Health aims to build partnerships and step up integration for malaria control with antenatal care and Expanded Programme of Immunization activities to ensure sustainability and to develop a routine malaria control program.

The WHO is also extending continued technical support to the Malaria Transmission Consortium that is supporting the malaria operational research through four universities in the country.

During this time, the number of malaria endemic areas in Indonesia is quite high, so Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek has expressed hope that there would be no more casualties due to malaria in future.

The health minister has stated that the spread of malaria in the highest endemic areas are in the provinces of Papua, West Papua, and East Nusa Tenggara.

Hence, the government is targeting no other high-risk areas of malaria by 2020.

All districts and cities are expected to be free of malaria by 2025, while all provinces are expected to achieve the target by 2027, and Indonesia is hoped to realize total elimination by 2030.

Hence, prevention of malaria disease will need vigilance of health workers, government, and society to prevent the infectious disease.

"We are working hard for achieving total elimination of malaria," the minister said.

Malaria is a major public health problem in most tropical countries, including Indonesia, with some of its provinces in the eastern region recording high number of cases of this deadly disease.

Hence, the Indonesian Ministry of Health has appealed to the public, especially tourists, to be wary of the transmission of malaria.

Based on data from the Ministry of Health, malaria is still endemic in the provinces of Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, North Maluku, and West Papua, as the achievement of the target to eliminate the deadly diseases in these provinces is still zero percent.

The Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA) has recorded that of the 80 percent malaria cases in Indonesia in 2017, Papua Province has reported the highest number of cases of the deadly disease, followed by East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and West Papua.

The APLMA is an alliance of Asian and Pacific heads of government formed to accelerate progress against malaria and to achieve an Asia Pacific that is free of malaria by 2030.

In East Nusa Tenggara Province last year, the local Health Office recorded that as many as 29 thousand malaria cases had plagued the communities in the island province, with cases reported in the district of Sumba Island, followed by Lembata, Ende, and Belu.

In the province of Papua alone, the local Health Office has reported that four districts and the city of Jayapura remain endemic to the spread of malaria disease, with a very high number.

The Papua Health Office stated that the highest rate was recorded in the district of Mimika, followed by Keerom, Jayapura, and the city of Jayapura.

To this end, the local health office has been striving to reduce the number of malaria cases in these four districts and other areas in the province of Papua.

Interestingly, the government of Teluk Bintuni District in West Papua last year was quite successful in suppressing malaria cases.

The people in Teluk Bintuni District have been actively participating in the malaria elimination program for the last few years.

The local Health Office has involved members of the community as health cadres, and the volunteers are trained to provide early treatment of malaria.

Malaria, the world`s most important parasitic infectious disease, is transmitted by mosquitoes that breed in fresh or occasionally brackish water.

The symptoms of malaria include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, anemia, and jaundice, or yellow coloring of the skin and eyes.

Convulsions, coma, severe anemia, and kidney failure can also occur. The severity and range of symptoms depend on the specific type of malaria.

In certain types, the infection can remain inactive for up to five years and then recur. In areas with intense malaria transmission, people can develop protective immunity after repeated infections. Without prompt and effective treatment, malaria can evolve into a severe cerebral form followed by death.

(O001/INE/o001)
(T.O001/B/KR-BSR/O001) 
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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ULMWP calls for immediate assistance to end Indonesia’s 'Nazi-like' presence in West Papua

May 2, 2018, 1:27 am
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ULMWP calls for immediate assistance to end Indonesia’s 'Nazi-like' presence in West Papua


Once again West Papuan independence activists have been arrested and brutalized to prevent them meeting international delegates to Indonesia's Melanesian colony; this time a delegation from the Solomon Islands visiting Jayapura and Manokwari on 24-25 April 2018, the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) reports.
Indonesia arrested eight leading political activists (Philipus Robaha, Marthen Manggarprow, Beny Hisage, Arnol Yarinap, Albert Yatipai, Gino Puade, Paul Kirihio and Chris Dogopia), humiliating them in front of their Melanesian kin and silencing their critique of the government's duplicitous Endeavour to halt the rising tide of international support for the independence movement.
According to a statement released by the ULMWP on Monday, instead of being taken to meet West Papuan socio-political leaders, the Solomon Islanders were taken on a tour of two 'development' sites, a sports-building project and the Haltecamp Bridge.

Mr. Soerdarmo, Caretaker Governor of Papua province, reportedly told the delegates that the ULMWP, the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) and other independent organizations purposely misrepresent and disrupt the Indonesian Government's development endeavors. He said his government is ready for dialogue with ULMWP in any street cafe.
The governor's views illustrates yet again that Indonesia has no intention of honoring its responsibility to uphold the human and political rights of its colonial subjects.
ULMWP Spokesperson Jacob Rumbiak, who has just returned to Melbourne from a very successful representation at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in London, said "After fifty-five years of Indonesian colonialism, we West Papuans, like many international observers, believe it has distinct parallels with the Nazis in Germany.
"Our struggle is to uphold our dignity, our sovereignty, Melanesian identity and international law, and rid ourselves of these Indonesia Nazis. West Papua is our sovereign homeland. We want to look after our territory and take control of our natural resources.
"The place to negotiate that agenda is the United Nations headquarters in New York, not some sleazy cafe in Jakarta".
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1) In Pictures: Massive deforestation linked to major consumer brands

May 2, 2018, 1:44 pm
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2)  Palm oil supplier to food giants clears forest, peatland in Indonesia, Greenpeace says
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1) In Pictures: Massive deforestation linked to major consumer brands
Posted by Angela Glienicke - 2nd May 2018



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2)  Palm oil supplier to food giants clears forest, peatland in Indonesia, Greenpeace says
by  on 30 April 2018

  • The Yemen-based Hayel Saeed Anam Group, which sells palm oil to Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Unilever through subsidiaries, is responsible for clearing 40 square kilometers (15 square miles) of rainforest and peatland in Indonesia’s Papua province between 2015 and 2017, according to Greenpeace.
  • Staff from the environmental organization shot video revealing the extent of the destruction.
  • Greenpeace campaigners have raised concerns that Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever are not upholding their commitments to get rid of deforestation, peatland destruction and exploitation from their supply chains.
Greenpeace has released video evidence that a palm oil supplier for several major food companies has destroyed rainforest in Indonesia.
Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever have all purchased palm oil from subsidiaries of the Yemen-based Hayel Saeed Anam Group, according to the companies’ disclosures of their suppliers. Crews on the group’s PT Megakarya Jaya Raya oil palm concession in Indonesia’s Papua province cleared 40 square kilometers (15 square miles) of forest between May 2015 and April 2017, according to Greenpeace’s satellite-image analysis.
“Companies like Unilever and Nestlé claim to be industry leaders,” forest campaigner Richard George of Greenpeace UK said in a statement. “So why are they still buying from forest destroyers like the HSA group? What are their customers supposed to think? What will it take to get them to act?”

Video © Greenpeace.
Unilever, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Mars have all committed to buy palm oil and other products that aren’t tainted with the clearing of forests, the destruction of peatlands or the exploitation of workers — known collectively as “no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation” policies.
But two of these companies’ suppliers, Arma International and Pacific Oils and Fats, are controlled by the Hayel Saeed Anam Group. PepsiCo, Mars and Unilever purchased palm oil from the Arma International, according to lists of suppliers released by the food producers. And Nestlé said that it bought palm oil from Pacific Oils and Fats.
Greenpeace published a report in March questioning whether these and other high-profile companies that have made no-deforestation pledges are actually on track to meet that goal by 2020.

Greenpeace staff on helicopter points out at landcover, forest clearance and plantation development in PT Megakarya Jaya Raya (PT MJR) palm oil concession. Image © Ulet Ifansati / Greenpeace.
In Greenpeace’s aerial shots, the dense forests around the PT Megakarya Jaya Raya concession soon give way to hectare upon hectare of moonscape-like razed forest, the felled trees scattered like matchsticks across a bare surface. In 2016, the World Resources Institute reported that deforestation remains a problem in Indonesia and that in 2015 Papua and West Papua provinces had their highest deforestation rates since 2001.
“Just weeks ago we asked major consumer brands like Pepsi and Nestlé to confirm that they were making good on their commitments to stop buying palm oil from companies that destroy forests, but this footage reveals just how far behind they really are,” Diana Ruiz, a palm oil campaigner with Greenpeace USA, said in the statement.
“Brands need to ensure their supply chains are free from deforestation and the only way to do this is to proactively monitor and enforce their no deforestation standards,” Ruiz said.

Landcover, forest clearance and plantation development in PT Megakarya Jaya Raya (PT MJR) palm oil concession. Image © Ulet Ifansati / Greenpeace.
Banner image of deforestation in Papua, Indonesia by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.
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May 2, 2018, 2:48 pm
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Today, 3rd May is World Press Freedom Day. 




The theme is "Keeping Power in Check:  Media, Justice and The Rule of Law"


"On World Press Freedom Day 2018, I call on governments to strengthen press freedom, and to protect journalists. Promoting a free press is standing up for our right to truth."— António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General






                              http://www.un.org/en/events/pressfreedomday/


Local and  foreign journalists in West Papua  continue to face harassment, intimidation, and deportation despite Jokowi’s statement in May 2015 that West Papua was now open. 

Indonesia is ranked 124th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.  

https://rsf.org/en/indonesia




MAY: GLOBAL MEDIA ALERT FOR WEST PAPUA

https://www.freewestpapua.org/2018/04/25/may-global-media-alert-for-west-papua/


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1) Solomons delegation to Indonesia sought balance

May 4, 2018, 12:00 am
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2) Journalist turns tales of undercover reporting, love in Papua into novel

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1) Solomons delegation to Indonesia sought balance
9:50 am today

A Solomon Islands civil society worker says a delegation from his country which visited Indonesia sought a balanced view on West Papua human rights issues.
Wilfred Luiramo was one of several civil society people selected by the government to visit Indonesia, including West Papua and Papua provinces, last week.
Mr Luiramo said he wasn't travelling on behalf of the group Forum Solomon Islands International, which he is chairman of, but rather as an individual civil society worker.

He said the Solomons government of Rick Hou was seeking a balanced approach on human rights in Papua region.
"Our relationship with Indonesia must be built and the human rights issue in West Papua must not be forgotten. It has to be part of the document. And generally, looking through it, Solomon Islands as a Melanesian country, and the West Papuan issue is very sensitive to us, we still feel that more can be done," said Wilfred Luiramo.
Wilfred Luiramo said the approach on Papua being taken by Mr Hou's leadership was different to that of the previous leadership of Manasseh Sogavare.
Of the rights situation, he said Papuans had different views on the issue of human rights abuses.
"Some propose that these things happen. Some say that these things happened previously, in the past," he explained.
"So we have been collecting different views from them. All of them are not having the same view, but the issue remains that we try to make a balanced document out of all the informations we get.


Listen to interview with Wilfred Luiramo duration6:22
from Dateline Pacific
 
Add to playlist 
 
Mr Luiramo said delegation members were yet to finalise their reports on the information garnered from the visit.
"We met with even the military generals, the governors and the CSO (civil society organisation) people, and tried to ask them what is their view... we keep trying to get a balance on it."
He noted that some people saw the rights situation in Papua as having improved.
"Because Indonesia as a country is just coming to democracy in 1998, full democracy. Previously it was military-controlled.
"So they said there are improvements over time, and even some of the leaders told us, one of the common sayings, that 'we are not a perfect country' which is true.
"They are changing over time, and even some of the indigenous say that there are improvements within the human rights issue," Mr Luiramo said, adding that some Papuans conveyed that they wanted independence from Indonesia.

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2) Journalist turns tales of undercover reporting, love in Papua into novel
BAMBANG MURYANTO THE JAKARTA POST
Yogyakarta| Fri, May 4, 2018| 09:11 am

A Dutch freelance journalist, Rohan (a pen name), had been interested in the political turmoil in Papua for years. In 2015, his application for a journalistic visa was denied. The 32-year-old then decided to embark on an undercover reporting assignment in the country’s easternmost province. 

For 153 days, he observed the way local people lived, met with leaders of the secessionist group Free Papua Movement (OPM) in the jungle, enjoyed the beauty of Papua’s nature and met Aprila Russiana Amelia Wayar, or Emil, a local journalist who later became his girlfriend.

It was Emil who wrote about Rohan’s adventures in Papua and their love story in the novel Sentuh Papua, 1500 Miles, 153 Hari, Satu Cinta(Touch Papua, 1500 Miles, 153 Days, One Love).

In the novel, Rohan’s character said foreign media agencies in Jakarta refused to publish his report on Papua, worrying that the government would revoke the visas of their Jakarta correspondents. 

Emil recently launched her 374-page novel in a discussion forum organized by the Alliance of Independent Journalists’ (AJI) Yogyakarta chapter and the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH).

Emil has been in Yogyakarta since early this year to publish the book. She chose Yogyakarta because she had spent time there as a student at Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW).

The 38-year-old said she initially intended to write a journalistic piece that was rich in data and interviews. She used the character of Rohan to describe the lack of press freedom in Papua, human rights violations in the province and challenges to OPM’s quest for self-determination.

“I then chose [to write a] novel to make it easier for Papuans and Indonesians to understand the [province’s] issues,” she said.

Through the book, Emil, who used to work for independent media platform Tabloid Jubi, was determined to represent the other side of Papua’s story vis-a-vis mainstream reporting on the province, which she deemed mostly biased. 

She said many journalists covering cases of human rights abuses in Papua only interviewed security personnel and neglected the victims. 

“Journalists writing about Papua have to cover both sides,” she said.

However, she realized both the challenge and risks that come with reporting Papua as a journalist, as she herself often received threats and harassment while doing her job.

In her book, the characters Rohan and Amelia, who is based on herself, are chased by a group of people armed with machetes.

According to Reporters Sans Frontier’s (RSF) latest world press freedom index, Indonesia ranks 124th out of 180 countries, the same position as last year. 

The Paris-based group highlighted the restriction of media access to Papua and West Papua as a factor that has kept Southeast Asia’s largest democracy at the bottom of the list. The condition prevails despite President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s campaign promises to open access to Papua for foreign journalists. 

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Press Council categorized Papua and West Papua as “medium/relatively free” in its 2017 press freedom index. 

Yogyakarta-based lawyer Emmanuel Gobay said Emil’s book, despite being published as fiction, was a good reference for those who want to understand Papua from both the local and professional perspective.

“This novel reflects the state of press freedom in Papua,” he said.

The novel, which Emil wrote in eight months, is her third after Mawar Hitam Tanpa Akar (Black Rose Without Its Stem) and Dua Perempuan(Two Women), both of which told stories about social issues in Papua. 

Emil was the first indigenous Papuan novelist invited to the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) in Bali in 2012. She plans to write a fourth book in the Netherlands, where she is currently undergoing medical treatment for a heart condition.
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1) PMC director condemns ‘targeting’ of journalists and silence on West Papua

May 4, 2018, 2:02 pm
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2) Papua New Guinea’s kina currency of choice in border area
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1) PMC director condemns ‘targeting’ of journalists and silence on West Papua
Professor David Robie ... “I’m an educator and a journalist....I have a responsibility to share my knowledge with as many people as I can about issues.” Khairiah A. Rahman/PMC
By Jean Bell in Auckland
An alarming number of “targeted” journalists being killed and West Papua media for independence were just some of the topics covered in wide-ranging seminar by the director of the Pacific Media Centre last night…….    https://asiapacificreport.nz/2018/05/04/pmc-director-condemns-targeting-of-journalists-and-silence-on-west-papua/
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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/05/04/papua-new-guineas-kina-currency-of-choice-in-border-area.html
2) Papua New Guinea’s kina currency of choice in border area
Nethy Dharma Somba The Jakarta Post
Jayapura | Fri, May 4, 2018 | 04:50 pm
Papua New Guinea’s currency, the kina, is the currency of choice at Skouw Market in Jayapura, located on the Papuan side of the Indonesian-Papua New Guinean border.
The market is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with transactions worth an average of Rp 2 billion (US$ 143,232) a day.
“Kina transactions might reach an equivalent of Rp 2 [billion] to 3 billion [...],” Joko Supratikno, the head of Bank Indonesia's Papua chapter, said on Thursday.
As a result of the trend, state-owned bank BRI's Papua chapter currently has PGK 110 billion in its foreign reserve.
“We hope that both countries’ central banks can work together [to make it easier] to exchange currencies. But at the moment, we still accept the kina,” BRI Papua chapter head I Wayan Nasta said.
BRI has a money changer at its Skouw Market branch. At the moment, one kina is equivalent to Rp 3,900 to Rp 4,000.
The central bank signed a memorandum of understanding with local institutions to ensure that transactions on the Indonesian side of the border use the rupiah. It also just established a task force to monitor the change.
“The task force can take action if they find buyers or sellers who still use foreign currencies at Skouw Market,” he said, adding that the central bank extended a probationary period to three months, while disseminating regulatory information on the use of the rupiah in all transactions.
The regulation is expected to encourage foreigners to exchange their money to rupiah before conducting transactions at the market and in other parts of the city. To date, Papuan sellers expect to gain more profits from trade and currency exchanges by accepting the kina during transactions. (swd)
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1) Papua’s endemic wood tree threatened for cooking fuel

May 5, 2018, 2:20 am
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2) No notification, indigenous landowners are victimized

3) Sea of Possibilities
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1) Papua’s endemic wood tree threatened for cooking fuel
admin
Jayapura, Jubi– The population of xanthostemon novoguineensis, the endemic wood tree of Papua that locally known as ‘sowang’, nowadays has been threatened because of logging activities for cooking fuel.
“The endemic wood tree that grows in Jayapura City is continuing to extinct because of people,” said the Coordinator of the Port Numbay Greend Forum (FPPNG), Freedy Wanda to Jubi recently.
Further, he said even though an awareness campaign on the importance of sowang woods protection has done, it is not useful because indigenous people of Port Numbay are still not paying attention.
Although FPPNG has replanted some young trees, Wanda expects the Plantation and Nursery Agency could prepare as many seeds as possible.
Meanwhile, the village chief of Enggros, Orgenes Meraudje said local people are now facing difficulties with the fact that sowang woods are started to run out because people previously use it for home building.
“As now sowang woods are running out, people commonly use concretes for building their houses,” said Meraudje.
In the past, according to him, villagers had a traditional management of using sowang woods wisely; people should do a particular ritual before cutting trees, and the remarkably old trees would cut for housing. He further said houses made from the sowang woods could last for five to ten years because they are resistant to seawater and not easily broken or collapse.
Sowang wood tree mostly grows around the areas of the Mount Cycloop and Pasir Enam in Jayapura City. Unfortunately, it begins to extinct because of the needs of the household for cooking.
Sowang woods are usually for charcoals, and today because of the economic factor, those charcoals are sold to some restaurants in Jayapura City. Its well-known quality of resistance in burning process becomes the main reason why many restaurant managers prefer it for cooking fuel.
A woodcutter, Agus said he cut the sowang trees for producing charcoals. “I cut and burn it; then the charcoals are ready to sell,” he said. However, getting the sowang trees is considerably hard because they begin to extinct. So he must walk through to a very remote mountainous area. “Moving it down is also not easy because we have to go through a very poor pathway,” he said. (*)
 Reporter: David Sobolim
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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2) No notification, indigenous landowners are victimized

admin
Jayapura, Jubi –Dozens of people from eight clans in Kaptel Sub-district, Merauke headed by the Sub-district Chief Wister Hutapea came to the local parliament office on Monday, 30 April 2018 to meet the Chairman of Tenure Right Special Committee Nathaniel Paliting and two representatives of PT Nufta.
A clan chief Lukas Samkakai revealed that since 2011, PT Nutfa opened the land for the industrial planting forest. However, the company never announced their land clearing activity to the eight clans of the landowners. People then complained the 1300 hectares of planned 65,000 hectares of land clearing by the company. As a result, the company agreed to meet the community and agreed to pay Rp 300 million compensation.
“We agreed with the price and the company gave us Rp 20 million in October 2017. Then, they promised to pay the rest of amount in the near There is no response or further follow up after this payment,” said Samkakai. After waiting for so long, they decided to come to the Merauke Regional Council Office.
The Chief of Kaptel Sub-district, Wister Hutapea admitted the company cleared the land of the two clans so far, but not yet the six clans’. As a sub-district chief, I absolutely cannot be silent; I have to support the indigenous landowners’ rights,” he said. Therefore, he expects the regional council of Merauke can accommodate people by forcing the company to pay such compensation. If not people will be complaining and it would affect the company’s operation.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Tenure Right Special Committee, Nathaniel Paliting said the meeting between the council and representatives of eight clans and company representatives was a follow up of the visit of councillors to Kampung Boepe a few times ago.
“We facilitated this meeting to enable these representatives to sit together and talk. As a response, the two representatives of PT Nutfa said they have to ask further guidance from their director in Jakarta,” he said.
The council, further Paliting said, gives three days for the company to settle their response towards the people’s demand.
“I listened to the company’s talk that there is an agreement between the company and community about the land clearing in 2011,” he said.
Based on this evidence, the committee asked the company to provide the agreement for further review. “We don’t know about it in detail. They must present the contract upon us for taking immediate steps so that people from the eight clans would not be in the same situation anymore,” he said. (*)
Reporter: Frans Kobun
Editor: Pipit Maizier



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http://mnnews.today/aurora/may-2018/30561-sea-of-possibilities/

3) Sea of Possibilities

‘Have you been here before?’ they all seem to ask, conscious that their corner of the world has not been high on the tourist bucket list. And I am revelling in being able to say ‘Yes, but not for 50 years.’ Papua New Guinea was even more remote from the jetset in 1968, but the schoolboy that I was then had indeed spent a fortnight or more on a tour with his father of the incipient banking industry of the soon-to-be nation. Many things I remember vividly.

PUBLISHED 0 COMMENTS
This time I’m in PNG for the meeting, held every three or four years, of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO), comprising the bishops of PNG, Australia, NZ and the far-flung island nations, French- and English-speaking, that make up CEPAC, the Conférence des Évĕques du Pacifique. There are 80 or so of us and Port Moresby is on high alert. In November they will host the APEC meeting, possibly with Trump and Putin, and this is a great opportunity for the government and local security people to practise. The paramilitary police escort on our jaunts across town and the occasional helicopter above do seem a bit more than a mob of bishops would normally be accorded. The hotel’s own security is no less obvious but, apparently by design, less intimidating. The delightful Sebastian who guards the main door is a prime example; a small, broad-smiling Chimbu man, he is on for a chat and very happy to show you the workings of his pump-action Winchester shotgun. Friendly forces!
The heading of this article is the subtitle of the Conference. The Pacific is a region with its own troubles, but ‘A Sea of Possibilities’. In large part, the program is designed for the real Pacific bishops to share their troubles with the bishops of the developed nations, Australia and NZ. The biggie is climate change and the rising oceans. Sea levels around the world do not rise evenly, and the mid-Pacific is inundation central. The small coral islands, and hence some entire countries, are under threat and some have already become uninhabitable. The Archbishop of Suva is a bit of a star in this discussion, having recently provided land in Fiji for the population of a small island that has already become uninhabitable. There’s no doubt in this region about what has to happen about burning coal.
‘Climate refugees’ are not, however, the only refugees of concern. The Governor of the Port Moresby region gives Australia a fair old serve on the Manus Island debacle. PNG always knew it was an immoral ‘solution’, he says, but the Australians asked and they are our friends. But now they’ve broken all promises and walked away, leaving PNG to cope as best it can. Still, it’s a minor issue compared with the problem of the refugees from Indonesian West Papua who have flooded into the border zones of the Western Highlands. The Indonesians have no historic, ethnic or religious connection with the people of West Papua, he insists, and no right to be installing settlers from Java, but Indonesia is a big country and the West is letting them do what they like. Again, PNG is left to cope with the fallout. Finally, the PNG bishops are concerned about sea-bed mining. It’s an untested technology that will be trialled, by European miners, in the seas off New Ireland where presumably, if it causes an environmental disaster, only a few unimportant countries will be affected. They want us to know what’s going on.
They want us to know and to care. Perhaps in Australia what the church thinks and says is no longer of much importance, but that is not the case in the Pacific. PNG, the Prime Minister tells us at the Conference dinner, is a deeply Christian country. Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’,on ‘care for our common home’ and the need for ‘ecological conversion’, is much quoted. PNG is more than half Catholic and would be unworkable without the church’s schools, clinics and aid services. They are enormously grateful that the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin, has come to Moresby for this conference. Here is their voice being heard on the world stage; the church can speak for them in the councils of the great, as the Pope has already done. There’s an innocence about their confidence in the influence of the church, but I do hope they are right and we can do something. The Pacific, and its wonderful peoples, are a Sea of Possibilities.
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May 5, 2018, 10:32 pm
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1) West Papua visit lacked transparency says Solomons group

May 7, 2018, 1:35 pm
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2) Oil and gas had hidden role in Australia's response to Indonesian invasion of Timor-Leste

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1) West Papua visit lacked transparency says Solomons group
7:14 am today 


There should have been more transparency around a government-led delegation's visit to West Papua last month, a leader of Solomon Islands civil society says
 Downtown Jayapura. Photo: RNZ / Koroi Hawkins
The Solomon Star reports Development Service Exchange (DSE) spokesperson Jennifer Wate made the comment while rejecting any involvement in the trip.
This is despite its own chairsperson, Inia Barry, being among several from civil society organisations who went along on the visit, which was hosted by Indonesia.
Jennifer Wate said her organisation had found out about the trip the evening before the delegation's departure for West Papua.
She said the DSE did not endorse Mr Barry or any of the other civil society representatives who took part in the West Papua visit.
She said her organisation was not aware of any details of the trip or its terms of reference and she called on the Solomon Islands government in the future to formally approach the DSE on matters that required civil sector representation.
Jennifer Wate also admonished the government for not informing civil society groups in West Papua ahead of their trip.

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2) Oil and gas had hidden role in Australia's response to Indonesian invasion of Timor-Leste

Exclusive: Documents appear to show government ‘embarrassed’ to reveal border negotiations drove legitimising of Indonesia

Helen Davidson  Tue 8 May 2018 04.00 AEST• 




Newly declassified documents have revealed that Australia appeared driven by a desire for oil and gas rights when it was deciding to legitimise the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste.
The documents, which date from the early 1970s, were among files subject to a long running freedom-of-information dispute between an academic and the National Archives.

A five-day hearing went before the administrative appeals tribunal (AAT) last week. Much of the government’s evidence was given in secret, with the applicant, the academic and author Kim McGrath, and her lawyers prevented from hearing the reasons successive governments blocked her applications over a number of years. The tribunal reserved its decision.

Under the Archives Act, cabinet documents are made public after 30 years, with exemptions.
However, during the hearing, the National Archives released some of the files in question, including cabinet submissions and diplomatic cables.

          The new Australia-Timor-Leste border agreed on in March 2018. Photograph: Geoscience Australia


McGrath claims they supported her research findings that federal governments appear to have deliberately hidden the key role its interests in oil and gas reserves had in Australia’s diplomatic history with Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

Indonesia invaded Timor-Leste in 1975, and in 1979 Australia became the only western nation to formally recognise its sovereignty. The violent occupation continued until 1999.
McGrath, who last year published a book, Crossing the Line: Australia’s Secret History in the Timor Sea, said the documents made public this week suggested the Australian government was “embarrassed” to publicly reveal that border negotiations were the key issue motivating Australia to give legitimacy to Indonesia’s occupation.
“It wasn’t just that we wanted to appease Indonesia for the sake of being friendly with a big neighbour. It was because we had a direct commercial interest.”
A newly unredacted 1978 cabinet submission by the then-foreign affairs minister, Andrew Peacock, discussed the implications of moving towards either “de facto” recognition of Timor-Leste as effectively but informally under the control of Indonesia, or to formally declare “de jure” recognition of Indonesia’s sovereignty.
De jure recognition would allow the two countries to formally negotiate.

“In the material that was released, there’s a line that used to say ‘a natural and steady progression to de facto recognition’ and then it was redacted the next few lines,” McGrath said.
“What’s been revealed underneath the black ink is that it goes on to say ‘and ultimately, by falling in with international developments, full acceptance of East Timor as part of Indonesia so as to allow the negotiation of the seabed boundary between Australia and Indonesia in the missing link section adjacent to East Timor’.”
The submission from Peacock – who had been vocal in opposition to Indonesia’s actions – recommended the government use the term “full acceptance” before moving towards de jure, which would allow for a speedy track towards negotiations, but cabinet later amended the submission to use de facto, effectively sabotaging his speed-up efforts, McGrath said.
It was one of at least three newly unredacted paragraphs of Peacock’s submission that referenced seabed negotiations.
Another suggested using the commencement of negotiations to mark Australia’s formal recognition of Indonesia’s sovereignty but warned against appearing anxious, lest Indonesia use it to bargain a better deal for themselves.
The deliberations, of which treaty negotiations now appear to have been a driving factor, came amid a worsening humanitarian situation on Timor-Leste.

McGrath said the released documents also illustrate the government’s attempts to avoid backlash from the public. At the time, members of the public and some members of parliament were uneasy with Australia’s diplomacy with Indonesia and angry about the human rights abuses, including mass starvations, in Timor-Leste, which were at a peak in 1978.
While critical of the invasion, in early 1978 Peacock publicly justified having closer ties with Indonesia and recognising its sovereignty with the need to work with its government to provide humanitarian aid to Timor-Leste and facilitate family reunions. 
The public statements were silent on the maritime boundary negotiations, McGrath said.
In December, Peacock and the then Indonesian foreign affairs minister, Mochtar Kusumaatmadja, announced Australia’s recognition of an incorporated East Timor would be marked by the start of seabed negotiations.
Two diplomatic cables from 1972 – also released this week – including one from Australia’s ambassador to Indonesia, also suggest the government was fully aware international law was trending against its position in treaty negotiations with Indonesia – in that the border should be at the edge of Australia’s (wide) continental shelf, instead of a midpoint between the two land masses as was increasingly favoured by the international community.
Australia’s fractious negotiations over maritime borders with Timor-Leste and Indonesia stretches back decades and is marred by diplomatic disputes and accusations of espionage.

In March they largely came to an end, as Timor-Leste and Australia signed a treaty agreeing to a permanent maritime border and establishing a “special regime” area to share the untapped multibillion-dollar gas field in the Timor Sea. Exactly how that will be divided and where the extracted gas will be processed remains in question. 
Human rights groups and observers claimed the treaty confirmed Australia had been profiting for years from resources that had been Timor-Leste’s all along.
The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, told Guardian Australia the treaty established a joint development framework “for the benefit of both countries”.
“Both governments deemed this treaty to be fair and equitable,” she said.
Bishop declined to comment on other matters before the AAT.
At the beginning of the tribunal hearing, 24 files remained in contention, nine of which were produced by the department of foreign affairs, the rest by the attorney general’s department, the cabinet office, and the departments of external territories, natural resources, and of prime minister and cabinet.
The majority of them related to negotiations between Australia and Indonesia on the continental shelf boundaries and law of the sea delimitation with Timor-Leste. 
A spokeswoman for Gordon Legal, which is representing McGrath pro bono in the case, said the secret hearing of the government’s defence for withholding the documents was “deeply concerning”.
“Transparency and accountability on the part of governments is a key part of our democracy, the fact we can’t scrutinise why the government won’t hand over documents in this case leaves Kim [McGrath] with more questions than answers in her pursuit of the truth about our involvement in Timor.”
The National Archives has been contacted for comment.
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1) Govt Urged to Clean Spilled Freeport Waste

May 8, 2018, 12:46 pm
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2) Experts propose inclusion of Papuan word into Indonesian language dictionary

3) Visitors get seed banking skillset 

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https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2018/05/08/206918249/Govt-Urged-to-Clean-Spilled-Freeport-Waste


TUESDAY, 08 MAY, 2018 | 11:06 WIB


1) Govt Urged to Clean Spilled Freeport Waste


TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Environmental group Wahana Lingkungan Hidup (Walhi) Papua, Aiesh Rumbekwan, urged the government to force PT Freeport Indonesia clean the mining waste that spilled and contaminated the environment in Mimika, Papua. According to Aiesh, the operation reduced the environmental quality around the area.
“Such pollution should be cleared right away. Whatever the technology used, that’s the government’s affairs to restore the environment,” said Aiesh to Tempo, Monday, May 7.
In October 2017, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry imposed administrative sanctions in the form of coercion on PT Freeport Indonesia over 47 violations on environmental damages. However, there is no single order saying to clean the spilled mining waste.
According to Walhi research, Freeport operations have damaged the environment in Mimika from the upstream to downstream. The damages starting from acid rock drainage that destroyed the groundwater in the hills, heavy metal piles in plants and animals, to contaminated sea waters which the number of marine animal species declines by up to 70 percent. The last year's findings of Supreme Audit Agency also showed the damage has been widened.

"There will be a tremendous sediment buildup," Aiesh added.
PT Freeport Indonesia's Environmental Responsibility Management Team Chairman, Ilyas Asaad, confirmed that there has been no plan to clean up the spilled waste from the Ajkwa (Modified Ajkwa Deposition Area / ModADA) shelter thus far. Ilyas argued the government currently focuses on preventing greater damage. The Environment and Forestry Ministry have issued management standards through the Ministerial Decree No. SK.175/Menlhk.Setjen/PLB.3/4/2018 on 5 April.
"What we see is how to stop the legal basis of the previous management," said Ilyas, who is also the Ministry’s Inspector General.
Freeport denied its actions violated the rules. The company spokesman Riza Pratama said the existing waste management is the result of a joint agreement with the government.
According to the Freeport company, the contaminated environment will recover itself after the mining is complete. "The deposition area will become a community asset as it can be a plantation area," he said.
ROBBY IRFANY
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2) Experts propose inclusion of Papuan word into Indonesian language dictionary
Nethy Dharma Somba The Jakarta Post
Jayapura, Papua | Tue, May 8, 2018 | 06:14 pm
Linguists have suggested that epen, a Papuan word, be included in the Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language of the Language Center (KBBI).

Epen, which is widely used by the people of Papua, is actually an abbreviation of a two word phrase, emang pentingkah? (Is it so important?).

Epen is used to reject an attempt to encourage someone to do or believe in something he or she does not consider as something important from the very beginning.
“For example, when someone doesn’t want to talk with a person he or she doesn’t trust, they will say: ‘Is it epen [so important for me] to talk with him or her?’” said Nunung, a linguist who participated in a language enrichment dissemination program held by the Papua Language Center in Jayapura.

Nunung said epen was widely used not only by native Papuans but also by people outside Papua who had visited the province or become acquainted with Papuan people.

In addition to epen, trada is another Papuan word that has been recommended for inclusion in the Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language. “Trada is used by everyone in Papua. It means ‘no’. It’s getting rarer for people in Papua to use tidak. They often use tra or trada,” said Lita, another dissemination program participant.

“We, from the Papua Language Center, have proposed 1,000 Papuan words to be included in the KBBI, but only 384 words have been approved,” the agency’s head Toha Machsum said.

To enrich the Indonesian language, the Education and Culture Ministry in Jakarta has developed an application at kkbi.kemdikbud.go.id.

“The application makes it easier for people to propose words for inclusion from their respective regions into the KBBI. Our selection team will assess whether their proposals can be approved,” said Toha. (ebf)

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https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/5386638/visitors-get-seed-banking-skillset/

3) Visitors get seed banking skillset 

8 May 2018, noon

Gregor Heard

VISITORS from West Papua and Papua New Guinea have visited the Australian Grains Genebank in Horsham to brush up on the skills required to conserve seeds for long periods of time.

Jimmy Wanma, from Manokwari, the capital of the Indonesian state of West Papua, together with Gibson Sasanika, Madang, on Papua New Guinea’s north coast, both have backgrounds in arbology.

Rugged New Guinea still holds reserves of plants yet to be formally classified and is regarded as a botanist’s dream.

Mr Sasanika, who has studied fern ecology through his work at Divine Word University in Madang, said it was important to be able to store seeds in a secure environment where their viability is assured.

As part of this, the pair have learnt the techniques of industry best practice seed storage at the Horsham facility, which holds a number of key crop and wild crop relative species in store.

Mr Wanma said commercial timber production was a big industry in West Papua and said researchers could potentially make advances in the types of trees grown by studying various relatives.

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