2) Shooting survivor evacuated to Timika hospital: police
3) West Papuan leader warns of Indonesian attempt to partition the territory
4) The story of ‘Pace Black Family’, a hip hop Papua group from Nabire
5) Jayapura artisans craft PON XX souvenirs to welcome the national games in October
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1) Hundreds of students reject new provinces in Papua Land
News Desk February 9, 2021 8:50 pm
West Papua No.1 News Portal | Jubi
Students hailing from Lapago Customary Territory rally in Jayapura on Feb. 8 to reject the plan to form new provinces in their customary area. Jubi/Yance Wenda
Jayapura, Jubi – Hundreds of university students from Lapago Customary Territory gathered on Monday in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, to reject the central government and local administration plan to establish new provinces in Papua Land or West Papua.
The students claimed that the plan to establish a new province in the Lapago area was more motivated by the interests of the local political “elites” to gain power, not to make the Lapago area prosper.
Lapago Customary Territory is one of seven customary territories in Papua and West Papua provinces and consists of 10 regencies: Jayawijaya, Puncak Jaya, Pegunungan Bintang, Tolikara, Yahukimo, Lanny Jaya, Puncak, Nduga, Mamberamo Tengah, and Yalimo.
The rally was a reaction to a meeting between Lapago customary leaders with Commission II overseeing regional administration of the House of Representatives in Jakarta a week earlier. The meeting discussed the plan to have a new province in Lapago territory.
The students claimed that the idea to form a new province was not what the people wanted. The students demanded a referendum on self-determination instead.
The head of the Students Association from Nduga Regency, Warnus Tabuni, demanded that Lapago Customary Territory elites stop claiming that they acted on behalf of the people to establish the new province. “Who is it for? The number of Papuan people is small. So who would be recruited to work for the new administrations?” Tabuni said.
He went on to say that Papua province was enough to develop the area. Tabuni said the student association would deliver their message to the Papuan People’s Assembly and Papua Legislative Council.
Tabuni said the students were skeptical about the benefits of the new provinces. They even suspected that the new provinces, which usually mean new local political elites, would hamper Papuan people’s access to justice and truth on human rights violations.
The rally coordinator, Robi Wenda, said Lapago people were surprised to hear that several Lapago figures went to Jakarta to ask for a new province. He suggested the central government verify statements from Papuan figures claiming to act on behalf of the people. “We want a referendum, not new provinces,” he said.
The students referred to the news that several Lapago figures went to meet lawmakers in the House to ask for new provinces. The House is deliberating revisions to the special autonomy law for Papua and one of them was to simplify the requirements of new province establishment.
Paraparatv News broadcast a question from one of the Lapago figures, Briyur Wenda, who said that they supported the plan to split Papua province into several new ones and he in particular suggested making one new province covering the 10 regencies in the Lapago Customary Territory.
Earlier on Feb. 5, university students hailing from Meepago Customary Territory who studied in Surabaya, East Java, made a statement rejecting the establishment of new provinces. Meepago consists of Nabire, Paniai, Dogiyai, Deiyai, Mimika, and Intan Jaya.
The head of the Executive Body of Association of Students from Nabire, Paniai, Dogiyai, Deiyai in Surabaya, Stefanus Ukago, and the head of Association of Moni Students in East Java, Dominikus Sani, told Jubi that they rejected the plan to form new provinces in Papua province.
They warned “local political elites” in the Meepago area not to claim to represent Papuan people and requesting new provinces.
The idea to establish new provinces in Papua began to surface following a meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and 61 Papuan figures in the presidential palace. The meeting was arranged by some political elites in Jakarta in September 2019 in response to the racially charged incident in the Papuan student dorm in Surabaya.
Reporter: Yance Wenda
Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni, Evi Mariani
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2) Shooting survivor evacuated to Timika hospital: police
7 hours ago
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - A civilian who was reportedly shot at close range by an armed rebel in Bilogai village of Sugapa sub-district, Intan Jaya district, Papua was evacuated to Timika Public Hospital in Mimika district on Tuesday.
The man, identified by his initials as RNR, was shot at 5:30 p.m. on Monday and sustained gunshot wounds on the face and right shoulder, Papua Police spokesperson, Sen.Coms.Ahmad Musthafa Kamal, said.
The 32-year-old was admitted to the village's public health center for emergency treatment not long after the incident, he informed.
Following the shooting, a joint team of police and military personnel conducted patrols in the village and Sugapa city, he said.
According to RNR's wife, identified as M, the assailant was unknown to them. She told police he appeared from a street behind their house on Monday and told RNR he wanted to sell kerosene, Kamal informed.
The perpetrator told M he was not carrying a jerry can and asked her to give him one, but as soon as she turned, he pointed a short rifle at her husband and opened fire, Kamal said.
M screamed for help, but the attacker escaped, he added.
M and her neighbor, identified as L, have been summoned by local police probing the shooting, he said.
The Indonesian province of Papua has borne witness to a repeated cycle of violence, with armed Papuan criminal groups in the districts of Intan Jaya and Nduga targeting civilians and security personnel over the past two years.
Intan Jaya recorded its bloodiest month in September, 2020, with armed groups launching a series of attacks in the area that claimed the lives of two soldiers and two civilians and left two others injured.
The acts of terror have continued this year. On January 10, 2021, an Indonesian soldier died in a gunfight in the Titigi area of Intan Jaya district.
On January 6, 2021, for instance, 10 armed Papuan criminals vandalized and torched a Quest Kodiak aircraft belonging to Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) at the Pagamba village airstrip.
The armed men, led by Sabinus Waker, allegedly set ablaze the utility aircraft, bearing the registration number PK-MAX, not long after its American pilot Alek Luferchek disembarked two passengers.
The torching of the civilian aircraft was a brutal act since MAF planes have, since decades, conducted a noble mission for Papuan communities, Commander of the Cenderawasih Military Command, Maj. Gen. Ignatius Yogo Triyono, said.
Related news: Armed criminal group member dies in gunfight with soldiers
Related news: Police arrest two men for attacking priest in Papua's Jayawijaya
Related news: Indonesian soldiers in Papua help clean Mosso village's street
The man, identified by his initials as RNR, was shot at 5:30 p.m. on Monday and sustained gunshot wounds on the face and right shoulder, Papua Police spokesperson, Sen.Coms.Ahmad Musthafa Kamal, said.
The 32-year-old was admitted to the village's public health center for emergency treatment not long after the incident, he informed.
Following the shooting, a joint team of police and military personnel conducted patrols in the village and Sugapa city, he said.
According to RNR's wife, identified as M, the assailant was unknown to them. She told police he appeared from a street behind their house on Monday and told RNR he wanted to sell kerosene, Kamal informed.
The perpetrator told M he was not carrying a jerry can and asked her to give him one, but as soon as she turned, he pointed a short rifle at her husband and opened fire, Kamal said.
M screamed for help, but the attacker escaped, he added.
M and her neighbor, identified as L, have been summoned by local police probing the shooting, he said.
The Indonesian province of Papua has borne witness to a repeated cycle of violence, with armed Papuan criminal groups in the districts of Intan Jaya and Nduga targeting civilians and security personnel over the past two years.
Intan Jaya recorded its bloodiest month in September, 2020, with armed groups launching a series of attacks in the area that claimed the lives of two soldiers and two civilians and left two others injured.
The acts of terror have continued this year. On January 10, 2021, an Indonesian soldier died in a gunfight in the Titigi area of Intan Jaya district.
On January 6, 2021, for instance, 10 armed Papuan criminals vandalized and torched a Quest Kodiak aircraft belonging to Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) at the Pagamba village airstrip.
The armed men, led by Sabinus Waker, allegedly set ablaze the utility aircraft, bearing the registration number PK-MAX, not long after its American pilot Alek Luferchek disembarked two passengers.
The torching of the civilian aircraft was a brutal act since MAF planes have, since decades, conducted a noble mission for Papuan communities, Commander of the Cenderawasih Military Command, Maj. Gen. Ignatius Yogo Triyono, said.
Related news: Armed criminal group member dies in gunfight with soldiers
Related news: Police arrest two men for attacking priest in Papua's Jayawijaya
Related news: Indonesian soldiers in Papua help clean Mosso village's street
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3) West Papuan leader warns of Indonesian attempt to partition the territory
STEVE SWEENEYTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2021
WEST Papuan interim president Benny Wenda has warned of new plans by the Indonesian government to divide the territory into three provinces today as more troops were sent to the region.
He accused Jakarta of an attempt to “divide and rule his people” by carving up West Papua as another 450 troops arrived to “violently enforce its policies.
“Indonesian troops torture and stab our bodies, international corporations slice down our forests and mountains, and now the Indonesian government is trying to divide our unity.
“We are not three separate regions, we are West Papuans, one people with one soul and one mission: freedom,” the independence leader said.
The new plans are part of the proposals for a replacement of the “special autonomy” law, which directs the government of West Papua and is due to expire later this year.
Mr Wenda’s United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) rejects the imposition of the controversial special autonomy status, which, it says, disenfranchises the people; the only solution for the nation’s future is an independence referendum, the movement contends.
More than 600,000 people have signed a petition rejecting special autonomy, while it has been branded “a sham programme” by the head of the Papuan people’s assembly, an institution under the control of Jakarta.
“Special autonomy is a dead end. It is Jakarta’s wish,” Mr Wenda charged. “A referendum and full independence is our wish. Indonesia has failed the world and failed the people of West Papua.
“To enforce this renewal of ‘special autonomy’ even more Indonesian troops are flooding into West Papua: 450 in the last month alone. At least 6,000 new troops were sent in 2019 and over 1,000 more in 2020.
“Indonesia is turning our land into a warzone, a martial-law colony with military checkpoints on every street corner. Civilian rule in Indonesia is a myth: the military still holds power. Retired generals experienced in genocide in East Timor continue to call the shots,” he said.
Indonesia has occupied West Papua since 1963, formally annexing the territory in the 1969 so-called Act of Free Choice, in which which just over 1,000 hand-picked people ratified rule by Jakarta in a vote held at gunpoint.
“At every turn, they have treated us like a colonised people, less than human. We are called monkeys, spat at, forced off our land,” Mr Wenda said.
The ULMWP formed a provisional government on December 1 last year and insisted the West Papuan people were “no longer bowing down to Jakarta’s rule.”
The exiled leader is calling on the international community to help bring Indonesia to the negotiating table by withdrawing support for the special-autonomy project.
“The world may be banned from seeing what is happening in West Papua. But we can see it. And we are going to peacefully continue our long struggle for freedom until the world finally hears our cry,” Mr Wenda said
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4) The story of ‘Pace Black Family’, a hip hop Papua group from Nabire
News Desk February 9, 2021 12:19 pm
West Papua No. 1 News Portal | Jubi
Nabire, Jubi – People in West Papua called hip hop music “musik bicara-bicara”, which can be loosely translated into conversational music or talks music, because it has spoken words.
In Indonesia rapper Iwa K from Jakarta introduced rap music in the 1990s. Later, the country had Saykoji, Bondan Prakoso, Fade 2 Black, Batik Tribe, 8 Ball, Tuan Tigabelas and Lipooz. The introduction to hip hop or rap arrived in Nabire, Papua province, in the late 1990s to early 2000.
According to an article by Kristianto Galuwo appeared in lokadata.id, the earliest artists of hip hop Papua included Star East in Timika, founded in 2005, and then later, Peace Melanesia, Antrabes, Black Nation and Black Gangsta.
Now, newer hip hop Papua groups or artists spread in several cities like Waena Finest in Jayapura, DXH Crew, Phapin MC, and many more. Some of them voice their criticism towards inequality, poverty, the presence of the military, and natural resource exploitation. However, researcher Diana Pakasi from University of Indonesia has raised concerns for normalization of sexual violence in some of the lyrics of hip hop music in West Papua.
In Nabire, there was Pace Black Family, founded by Kurnianto Degei (Pace Black), and Dimas Iman Syofanto, or also known as Pace Mas EB.
According to Degei, hiphop in Nabire Regency was initiated by Karmul Satar and Rilex Calan, which were under NH2F. They released a single called Sepi Hati, or Lonely Heart. The single was uploaded on YouTube in April 2013.
“Econ Conex RC, Juanno, Gilang RC performed that song. After it went viral, other groups emerged,” said Degei, who was born in Beoga District on Oct. 16, 1984.
In Nabire, there were several hiphop communities, he said. NH2F, DC Crew, End Totwn, and Pace Black Family. Newer groups were emerging, too, he said.
Members of NH2F, he said, were: Sven Start, XB (X Bobo), Karmul Star, Kaisar (KHC), AMS (Anak Mulut Sagu). DC Crew were: Bat Boy and Zomby Colony while End Totwn was manned by G Swag. Pace Black Family had Elgant Boys, Fifti One Area, Suanggi Rap HSC and Tuan Tanah Gang.
Pace Black Family said they were “street rappers” that talked about social commentaries and also love.
Their most popular song was called “Denda Adat” or customary fine, performed by Pace Mas EB, Noel, Pace Black, Noris, Febri Stel. On YouTube, the song, uploaded in May 2020, was viewed 296,000 times as of Feb. 9. It got 3,900 likes and 166 dislikes on Feb. 9. Their channel, Pace Mas EB, had 29,800 subscribers.
“Denda Adat”, he said, was a song about young lovebirds who dated behind their parents back. The girl’s family later demanded the boy’s family to pay a fine as regulated in their customary law.
“In the music video we described the settlement process of the fine,” he said.
Degei said they called themselves Pace Black Family because they were Papuans. Pace is a generic call for male adults in Papua. But their YouTube account used Pace Mas EB, the stage name of one of the personnel. “It’s to show that one of our members is Javanese, so we want to show the diversity of youths residing in Nabire,” he said. “Mas” refers to a generic call of male adults in Javanese.
He said, even though the name of the group had “black” in it, it did mean one had to be black to join.
Degei said he and Pace Mas went on as rappers even though many people called them useless. “We keep writing lyrics, we train ourselves to edit videos, to shoot images and to manage a YouTube account,” he said.
They worked on a team. When Pace Mas EB performed, Degei would shoot the video, and vice versa. But other than the two of them, they had a team that worked as a video editor, videographer, YouTube manager, lyrics composer, sound mixer, etc.
Dimas or Pace Mas EB said he learned how to shoot and edit videos on his own. Before he could do them, they would hire someone else to do it. He also learned how to mix the compositions himself.
They also collaborated with other groups and cafe businesses to give them a venue although they worked together to set up their own stage, too.
“When we performed we sometimes collaborated with Petra Chaniago, Fifti On Area, Novis Hsc, Noel Suanggi Rap, Febri Stel (Tuan Tanah Gang), Chalen (CJM), Viker Wisdom, Tegas Pace T,” he said to Jubi.
Pace Black Family drew inspiration from Jamaican reggae, R&B, Pacific reggae, but they infused local percussion tifa in their sound. Degei also inserted words from his language, Mee language in the lyrics.
“Not all of us use Mee language but we use (Indonesian with) Papuan dialect, English, Indonesian. We write lyrics with love theme as well as social and culture and humanity,” he said.
Dimas said besides “Denda Adat”, the group’s other popular compositions were Margareta, Maria, and Mege Mumai.
Once in 2019, they performed in a concert for native Papuans traders, who were mostly female and called “mama-mama”. They said they did not take a lot of money from the concert, they donated some to “those in need”.
“We want to perform abroad, that’s our dream,” Degei said.
Reporter: Hengky Yeimo
Editor : Dominggus A. Mampioper, Evi Mariani
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5) Jayapura artisans craft PON XX souvenirs to welcome the national games in October
News Desk February 8, 2021 1:49 pm
West Papua No. 1 News Portal | Jubi
Jayapura, Jubi – One morning, two arts students were already hard a work to finish 1,800 shawls hand drawn and hand painted with Papuan motifs to welcome the 20th National Games or PON XX in Jayapura, which will be held in October 2021.
The games were supposed to be held in October last year, but the pandemic forced the committee to postpone it for a year.
Domi and Risni, students from Indonesian Arts and Culture Institute (ISBI) in Jayapura, were helping Blandina Ursula Ongge to finish the souvenirs. Blandina has worked hard to make the shawls since October last year. She made two designs: a large shawls of 2 meters by 30 centimeters, and a smaller one of 1 meter by 16 centimeters.
Read also: Papua Earmarks Rp400 Billion for PON Venues
On the shawls, she designed a cenderawasih or bird of paradise and oyster shell motifs. Risni then copied her design on the shawls with her hands, which took an hour to finish. And then Domi then applied some wax on the drawings using “canting”, a tool usually used in batik. This could take them half a day to finish.
Blandina said she decided to craft the shawls because it would be light to carry around and take home as souvenirs. “I think people from outside Papua would want to return home bearing some souvenirs from Papua, unique ones. So I prepared some light souvenirs that would not burden them,” she said.
Domi and Risni would paint the motifs with bright colors, yellow, blue and brown, using a brush and a stick with a cotton bud at the end. They would dry the shawl, which would take the whole daym, and then they would apply the wax on the drawings before dyeing the cloth. They would then wash and boil the shawls to peel off the wax. The finishing process is to iron the shawls and package them.
Blandina said the motifs were from Sentani: buttefliess, oyster and tifa or traditional percussion, a boat and “yoniki”. “Yoniki is a fish tail, used by Sentani customary leaders or ondoafi. In the past, only ondoafi children could use the motif,” she said.
Before using the yoniki motif on the shawls, Blandina sought permission from ondoafi Ramses Ohe and other ondoafi in Sentani to copy the yoniki motif from the wood bark to cloths.
Read also: KONI checks Papua readiness to host 2020 PON
“Nowadays, everyone could use the motif,” she said.
She sells the large shawls at Rp 200,000 per piece and the small ones at Rp 100,000.
So far she had made dozens of shawls and even sold about 20 pieces. She planned to make 1,000 large ones and 800 smaller ones. She said she ordered the supplies from Yogyakarta and she got help from her relatives and five ISBI students.
She got Rp 50,000 profit margin for each shawl. She calculated if all ran according to her plan, she would get Rp 330 million in sales revenue. She is selling the shawls on Facebook and Instagram, through their online shop called “Rasa Tuna”, managed by Papuans in Jakarta. She said she was still in talks with Jayapura administration and the local military command to get permission to open a stall in the official venue of PON XX.
Other artisans in Jayapura also crafted some souvenirs on her own. Susana Rumbsumbre Tjoe has made batik cloth especially for the games. She said the uniqueness of the batik was in the motifs, which were “warrior from Kampung Nafri” motif and Port Numbay motifs like turtles, cendewasih and tifa.
Another enterprising local artisan to ride the PON XX wave was Beni Rumbiak. He had made key chain for PON XX souvenirs since three months ago. He had a design for each sport competing in PON XX.
He based his design on the official mascots of PON XX, announced by the national committee in August 2019. The mascots are Papuan tree kangaroo and bird of paradise, called Kangpho and Drawa.
The key chains Beni made from PVC pipes, paints and feathers had both mascots posing as a soccer player, volley player, badminton athlete or a boxer.
He had made them in the past three months and had produced 100. He planned to increase production until 3,000 pieces before the PON XX. He got help from eight family members. To make one key chain, a person needs an hour.
He planned to sell one key chain for Rp 100,000 per piece, but he said people could bargain with them. He had opened an online shop in Instagram, called Wadomu Art, managed by his daughter, Maya Rumbiak. They also have a gallery in Kelapa Dua Market in Entrop, Jayapura.
He said he did not expect to get an official stall at the venue. He said he would just hawk his souvenirs.
Andris Wakum, from Biak, has also made some key chains for PON XX souvenirs. He used coconut shells for the material.
He shaped the keychains with local motifs like cenderawasih, frogs, crocodiles, owls and tribal chief.
Reporter: Theo Kelen
Editor: Syofiardi, Evi Mariani
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