Fifteen provinces prone to conflict

Fifteen provinces prone to conflict

Moch. H. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia has 15 provinces that are the most vulnerable to
religious and ethnic conflicts, the Ministry of Defense revealed
on Tuesday.

"Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Maluku, Central Sulawesi, South
Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara are among the regions prone to
conflict," Col. (ret) Tri Wahyu Wibowo, head of the defense
research team at the ministry, was quoted by Antara as saying
after a discussion in Palu, Central Sulawesi.

According to him, the mapping of conflict areas was a result
of research conducted by a number of experts.

Wibowo said the team members had traveled to the areas that
had the potential for conflict to find out the basic problems
there.

"All input from the public in the regions with the potential
for conflict will be formulated to find the best solution in
handling problems there," he said.

Last week, Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG)
issued a warning that communal conflict, military-police rivalry
and corruption could turn Flores island in East Nusa Tenggara
province into another hot spot in the Indonesian archipelago.

"Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Papua, Maluku and Poso (in Central
Sulawesi) may be the hot spots now, but some of the factors
fueling those conflicts have the potential to cause violence
elsewhere in Indonesia," Sidney Jones, director of ICG's
Indonesia projects, was quoted by Deutsche Presse-Agentur as
saying.

Decades-old separatist movements have plagued Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam and Papua provinces, whereas sectarian clashes have
been rife in Maluku and Poso since 1999.

All four hot spots are rich in natural resources, and are the
bases for large detachments of Indonesian Military and police
forces, ostensibly there to keep the peace but in fact, according
to the ICG analysis, forming a major source of the insecurity.

Activists and experts have accused military and police
officers of trying to maintain the conflicts as they have
controlled businesses in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Maluku, Poso
and Papua.

They urged both the police and the military to concentrate on
their duties to safeguard the people and abandon their
businesses.

At the discussion, participants stressed that reform of the
Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police was imperative
because both institutions had been causing problems in the
conflict areas, rather than protecting the people.