RI`s legislators call on US congress to help correct view on Papua Issue

New York, (ANTARA News) – The Indonesian House of
Representatives (DPR)`s Commission I delegation
visiting the US, called on US congressmen to help
correct understanding on Papua issue as some
Congressmen still considered the issue problematic.

Theo L Sambuaga, who led the Commission I
delegation, made the request in the meetings with
their counterparts in the US Congress, when
visiting Washington DC, from September 22 to 25, 2008.

Greenpeace ship visits Indonesia to promote forest conservation

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – A Greenpeace ship, the Esperanza, will arrive in Indonesia on October 6 to promote forest and climate conservation as part of the environmentalist organization`s `Forest for Climate` campaign, a spokesperson said.

The Esperanza would arrive in Jayapura, Papua, on October 6 and remain until Nov 15 to spotlight the need to defend the last remaining natural forests in Indonesia, according to Greenpeace media campaigner Nabiha Shahab in an e-mail to Antara on Saturday.

Asylum seekers back in Papua Indonesia

The Jakarta Post
Thursday, September 25, 2008

Asylum seekers back in Papua

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Merauke

Two Papuans who sought asylum in Australia in 2006 have returned
to their hometowns, claiming they did not get what had been
promised before they left.

Hana Gobay, from Merauke, and Yubel Kareni, from Serui, were
part of a group of 43 Papuans who crossed the sea on a boat to
Australia on Jan. 13, 2006, claiming they had been oppressed and
were thus seeking asylum.

Papuan asylum seekers leave Australia and return home to the Province of West Papua Indonesia

JAKARTA, Sept 24 – Two of the 43 Papuan asylum seekers at
the heart of a diplomatic rift between Australia and Indonesia
two years ago have returned to their homeland.

The Indonesian government said Hana Gobay, from Merauke in
Papua, and Yubel Kareni, from Serui, returned to Papua this
morning, accompanied by Indonesia’s consul general in Melbourne,
Jahar Gultom.

Inventing Papua

Papuan culture on sale at the Hamadi art market in Jayapura (Iskandar Nugroho collection)

Iskandar Nugroho wrote a very interesting research on the role of non Papuan of the manufacturing Papuan tradition. Nugroho said that the representations of Papuan culture produced by the traders from South Sulawesi don’t just satisfy the needs of tourists for objects that symbolise their experience of Papua. These objects may be inauthentic, but they have helped create a sense of identity amongst urban Papuans.

If only Papuan and non-Papuan in the peaceful land of Papua work together to develop our motherland then most of the problem will go. Papua is not solely a problem of separatism but also a cultural understanding that has been in silence for many years. Please read the article of Inventing Papua in Inside Indonesia for further understanding.

Indonesian police suspect separatists in mine bombings

News from International Herald Tribune

The Associated Press
Monday, September 15, 2008

JAKARTA, Indonesia: Separatist rebels are being investigated in a string of bombings targeting a U.S. mining giant in Indonesia’s restive eastern Papua province, police said Monday. No one was wounded in the blasts, which followed written demands that the company’s gold mine be shut.

Two attacks were carried out late last week on a road leading to the massive mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and a third occurred late Sunday in an empty field near an international airport built by the New Orleans-based company.

“It is clear that an unidentified group wants to sabotage and terrorize vital (Freeport) installations in Papua,” deputy police chief Prasetyo, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name, told reporters in the port town of Timika. “But they failed.”

Forensic Team Probes Timika Blasts

The Jakarta Post
Sunday, September 14, 2008

Forensic Team Probes Timika Blasts

Markus Makur, The Jakarta Post, Timika

Five members of the Jakarta-based National Police Forensic
Laboratory scoured bomb-explosion sites Saturday on a highway
leading to PT Freeport Indonesia’s gold and copper concession in
the Mimika regency of Papua.

Accompanied by Papuan police, the forensic team combed the area
in search of remains from the mortar-like bombs that exploded
near a gas station at Mile 50 as well as under a bridge over the
Kabur river, at Mile 39.

Timika

Norwegian wealth fund sells stake in Rio Tinto

The opencast Grasberg mine in West Papua, Indonesia, has been called one of

the worst eyesores in the world

From The Times
September 10, 2008

David Robertson, Business Correspondent

One of Rio Tinto’s largest shareholders has sold its £500 million stake in the company over concerns about the Grasberg goldmine, which has been called one of the world’s worst eyesores.

The $375 billion (£213 billion) Norwegian sovereign wealth fund said on Tuesday that it had sold its shares after failing to persuade Rio to improve operations at the West Papua mine.

The Norwegian Finance Minister publicly shamed Rio in a statement that accused the company of “severe environmental damage”.

The Grasberg operation in West Papua, Indonesia, is the world’s largest goldmine and the third-largest copper mine, but it is notorious among human rights and environmental campaigners.

Breaking News : 2 explosions near Freeport mine in Indonesia

Members of an Indonesian police elite anti-terror unit board a bus to be deployed to the site where an explosion went off near a massive mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. in Timika, Papua province, Indonesia, Friday, Sept. 12, 2008. Two suspected bombs went off early Friday near the mining facilities, police said. No one was injured and there was little damage. (AP Photo/Andreas Marianno M.)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Two small bombs exploded early Friday on a road leading to a massive copper and gold mine in eastern Indonesia and a third unexploded mortar was found nearby, police said. No one was injured and there was little damage.

The near-simultaneous explosions near the mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. targeted a bridge and a nearby security post 10 miles from the Grasberg mine in Papua province, said PT Freeport Indonesia spokesman Mindo Pangaribuan.

He refused to elaborate until a police investigation was complete. “We can only say that the incident did not disturb our operations,” he said. “Things are running normally.”

Papua is home to separatist rebels who have long denounced the mine as a symbol of Jakarta’s rule over the region and were blamed for a 2004 attack on the same road that left two Americans dead. Indonesian security forces hired by Freeport were initially suspected of taking part in those killings to extort higher protection payments from the New Orleans-based company.

The impact of special autonomy to education

Today I read an Indonesian blog namely  BillyMambrasar in bahasa Indonesia. I think it is important for us Papuan to realise how good is the impact of special autonomy for Papuan young generation.

Billy explained several points on the impact of special autonomy as follows:

1. Since the legal process of special autonomy law for Papua started in 2001, the program of improving Papuan human resource became one of the most important concern of the government. Education became the top priority based on the budget precentage.

2. After special autonomy fully implemented, education program, scholarship, and access to school are incerased significantly. Many Papuan children and young generation got opportunities to join higher education (including Billy Mambrasar, without special autonomy he could not possibly to enter Bandung Institute of Technology). The number of Papuan intelektual and Papuan your generation with a national and international achievement increased sharply.