My comment on the 5 Australian in Papua

January 31, 2009

What a bad luck for William Hendry Scott Bloxam (pilot), Vera Scott Bloxam (co pilot), Hubert Hofer, Karen Burke and Ket Rowald Mortimer (passengers). According to the news, those people violate flight approval,  security clearence and immigration. I believe that we must respect national law and international law for public safety and our own safety. The case of flight approval is very serious because it relates to the safety of people and flight traffict, so it should not happen again in the future, a hard punishment can be applied in accordance to the violation. Usually the law on this kind of violation will be related to a very large amount of fine and several years ban of flying licence.

As for the security clearance, it should not touch the very basic of human rights that people are free to move from one area to another. However, the law should also be respected. I personally disagree with the mechanism of  hard security clearance, beacuse it only applied in a conflict are like Gaza in Palestine or Iraq during the war. Papua is a peaceful land and the level of conflict is very low, so there is no reason for applying security clearance in a hard way. Security clearance can be applied normally as part of public safety, for example we can not bring any hazardous material or weapons in public transportation, especially aeroplane. We can not also bring anything than can harm public safety, for example we can not bring bombs by aeroplane to Australia, right? I have no information whether the people from Australia bring any dangerous things to Papua. Read the rest of this entry »


President Yudhoyono presents community empowerment funds to West Papua

January 22, 2009

Manokwari (ANTARA News) – During his first-ever working visit in West Papua, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is to present Rp154.72 billion in financial aid under the National Self-reliant Community Empowerment Program (PNPM) to the province on Thursday.

The assistance was to be handed to West Papua Governor Abraham Artururi when the president visits Mansinam island in Manokwari district.

The president was expected to arrive at Manokwari`s Rendani airport from Sorong at 9:30 am local time and inspect a command post of the Earthquake Disaster Management Coordination Unit (Satkorlak) at the Manokwari district head`s office. Read the rest of this entry »


West Papua gets Rp 1.1t in autonomy funds

January 20, 2009

Nethy Dharma Somba, THE JAKARTA POST, JAYAPURA

The Province of West Papua received Rp 1.1 trillion (US$100 million) in special autonomy funds in the 2009 budget.

Since its initial disbursement in 2002, the special autonomy fund,–the implementation of its special autonomy status based on Law No. 21/2001– was managed by the province of Papua. West Papua, however, officially separated from Papua to establish a new province in March 2006 by electing its own governor through a peaceful regional election.

The special autonomy fund for West Papua of Rp 1.1 trillion accounted for about 30 percent of the Rp 3.7 trillion received by the two respective funds for each province. The other Rp 2.6 trillion was earmarked to the province of Papua. Read the rest of this entry »


Immoral threat to Free West Papua

January 11, 2009

I would say a childish threat from someone who call himself  Mr. Jeremy Beadle to Free West Papua Blog is immoral (link :  Mr. Jeremy Beadle comment in article entitled Honesty is always the best policy).

As a poor ordinary person, I covered nothing but the truth from environmental issue, natural disaster, human rights abuses, political repression, political opportunist, freedom movement, pro – independence, pro-integration,  and it was sometimes hard to tell the difference between them.  As I covered political process, I found myself drawn, because I saw the impact that it had on people’s lives – from the Indonesian security policy and from the separatism perspectives. While most journalists become cynical about politics, I had the opposite experience – I found myself inspired by the good people I met from both papuan leaders in West Papua and Papua provinces. I also try to contact Papuan independence leaders, including foreign provocateurs such as Mr, Richard Samuelson from UK and Joe Collins from Australia, but none of them are willing to have an open online discussion.

Some people in the Indonesian government sometimes love to grumble about the latest headline or the way a story is written in my blog, surprisingly those who support independence are also complain about my blog. What should be done? Should I keep my mouth shut?

We should recognize the vital importance of a free press to a free society. Maybe only in the US that we can have a real free press, as a popular quote: “There is no more important pillar of democracy than a free and active press.”

Freedom of the press is often called the First Freedom, and for good reason. — in effect, it protects freedom of thought and expression. A free press is indispensable to a vigorous debate in West Papua issue. Journalists expose corruption and crime, and shine a spotlight on human rights abuses. Perhaps for those very reasons, we are living in a time of great danger for journalists around the world – they are at greater risk than ever of being threatened, jailed or killed- the threats come from a variety of places — organized crime, by terrorists, narco-traffickers, even sometimes by governments themselves. Once again, it is no a surprise, the political opportunist who suppot Papuan independence are also threatening the freedom of speech.

This disturbing trend should set off alarm bells — and a much louder international outcry.

Both Indonesian military and Papuan Independence Movement are suck and never care about the life of ordinary people in West Papua and Papua provinces.

My impartiality is simply a threat to both side Indonesian Military and Free Papua Movement.

I don’t have much money to manage my own professional website in order to voice my consciousness. In contrast, both the government of Indonesia and Free Papua Movement are rich enough to create their own propaganda in the internet. If  WordPress.com will silence my individual ordinary voice, there is nothing I can do but bury myself in silence and the world will never hear my consciousness again.

Silencing journalists – whether they write from Internet cafes, in literary journals, or newspapers – has a chilling effect. I can see how mad Indonesian governemnt to my blog when I wrote about cholera outbreak, the shooting opinus tabunihuman rights report on West Papua, and especially the article of the hardliners in Papua as my foundation perspective. I also can see now how bad is the independence movement reaction to my blog, they are so angry when I disclose the secret of Papuan political opportunist like the criminal Benny Wenda and the provocateur Richard Samuelson. Please correct me and criticize my blog openly through your own fancy and expensive website.

Stifling reports about cases of HIV/AIDS increases the risk for not only people in West Papua, but also people in every country. Killing personal blog who investigate the the case in West Papua proportionally, encouraging the misunderstanding of Papuan people and the problem within. Assassinating personal blog who unmask government misdeeds allows corruption to grow and impact an expanding circle of businesses and individuals.

What should we all do?

Thank you.


INDONESIA Church Gives Shelter, Food For Earthquake Survivors

January 8, 2009

JAKARTA (UCAN) — A Catholic church in Manokwari is giving shelter and distributing food for earthquake survivors after a series of powerful quakes hit the capital of West Papua province beginning on Jan. 4.

“More than 5,000 people fled their homes and took refuge in the compound of St. Augustine Church in Manokwari,” Father Aloysius Teniwut of Emmanuel Church in Sanggeng-Manokwari told UCA News by phone on Jan. 5.

The local Church has erected five large tents to accommodate hundreds of people — mainly children, mothers and elderly — and is distributing food among them, he reported. Read the rest of this entry »


INDONESIA : Earthquake in West Papua, initial tally is 4 dead, 34 injured

January 5, 2009

by Mathias Hariyadi
Thousands of refugees have abandoned their homes out of fear of more collapses. The area is isolated, making the situation difficult for teams of aid workers. A government delegation has gone to the spot of the tragedy, one of the most poor and backward in the country.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – A series of strong tremors yesterday shook the province of West Papua, killing 4 and injuring 34. In order to address the emergency, the Indonesian government has sent a delegation of ministers and high officials to the area of the tragedy, but aid operations seem difficult because the area is isolated and difficult to reach. The main earthquake, of magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale, struck 150 kilometers northwest of Manokwari, the capital of the province, 35 kilometers below the surface. Read the rest of this entry »


Yudhoyono sends ministers to West Papua

January 5, 2009

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has assigned three ministers to go to Manokwari, West Papua to take necessary steps to help manage the disaster in the earthquake-hit area.

Yudhoyono told a press conference in Jakarta that Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto, Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Jamal, and Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah would leave for Manokwari on Sunday.

“The (disaster management) system has been working, but to make certain I have sent three ministers to depart immediately,” he said as quoted by Kompas.com. Read the rest of this entry »