Protests continue on plan to divide Papua
\nchanged "warlord" to just "leader" as warlord is very strong and
\nit sounds like he is more of a mediator\/diplomat from the rest of
\nthe story.
\nAND added 1 clause below, as that is what makes law 21 so
\nimportant and relevant to all of this, otherwise very little
\nrelevance to story.<\/p>\n
AND His final quote about not being ready,... lacking human
\nresources... seems odd, doesn't seem to fit with the rest,
\nperhaps check on the context of what he means exactly.
\nTiarma Siboro
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Representatives of seven tribal groups in Papua urged
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri on Thursday to revoke her own
\norder calling for the enforcement of a controversial law to the
\nprovince and demanded that the President apologize to Papuans for
\nthe fatal clashes that followed.<\/p>\n
Alpius Kogoya, a leader of a coalition of seven tribal groups
\n-- the Dani, Moni, Mee, Damal, Nduga, Amungme and Kamoro -- also
\nwarned of renewed clashes in Papua if Jakarta ignores the demands
\nand continues with its plan to divide Papua into three smaller
\nprovinces: West Irian Jaya, Central Irian Jaya and Papua.<\/p>\n
"Each and every Papuan will only recognize one Papua. We don't
\ncare what the central government will give to the local
\nadministrations, we only want one Papua," Alpius said here at a
\npress conference to brief the media on the coalition's stance on
\nthe matter.<\/p>\n
"The President's decision to divide Papua has created
\ndisharmony among locals and led to violence...we killed each
\nother, and some of our women were raped," Alpius said.<\/p>\n
Alpius arrived in Jakarta a week ago to represent the groups
\nopposing the declaration on Aug. 23 of the Central Irian Jaya
\nprovince. The creation of the new province triggered bloody
\nclashes between those against and those supporting the new
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
He said that he met with legislators Effendy Choirie from the
\nNational Awakening Party (PKB) and Sabam Sirait from the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan). Alpius
\nalso claimed that the legislators supported the demand for the
\nrevocation of the law on the division of Papua.<\/p>\n
He was referring to Law No. 45\/1999 on the division of the
\nvast Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, and Presidential Instruction No.
\n1\/2003 on the acceleration of the division.<\/p>\n
In the meeting with the legislators Alpius was accompanied by
\nPapuan student representatives Jura Kagoya and Raul Kagoya, both
\nrepresenting the Dani tribe.<\/p>\n
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno earlier said the
\ngovernment would proceed with its plan to split Papua despite the
\ncontroversy, claiming that Law No. 45\/1999 provided a legal basis
\nfor the policy.<\/p>\n
Hari also said that the partition of Papua was necessary for
\neconomic and social development in the vast resource-rich
\nterritory.<\/p>\n
But Alpius said that Jakarta had only added to the problems of
\nthe local people, who have yet to enjoy the benefits of the
\nspecial autonomy law, including better welfare.<\/p>\n
The government issued Law No. 21\/2001 on special autonomy for
\nPapua but has not yet fully implemented the law, including the
\nestablishment of a Papuan representative body to be given the
\npower of deciding to accept law 45 or not.<\/p>\n
"We are not ready for too many policies from Jakarta due to
\nour lack of human resources... so please, I ask that the
\ngovernment try to understand this," Alpius said.<\/p>\n
Experts have criticized the government's decision to split the
\nprovince, saying that Jakarta has to involve local participation
\nin its plan to divide Papua to ensure that the policy will not
\ncreate more problems in the future.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/protests-continue-on-plan-to-divide-papua-1447893297",
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