Govt send aid to Papua as famine kills 55
The Jakarta Post, Jayapura/Jakarta
Stunned by reports of famine in a remote Papua district that has left 55 people dead, the government dispatched a military cargo plane on Friday night to carry food aid to the stricken area.
The effort came amid criticism from Papuan leaders that the central and regional governments had neglected their own people, leading to the disaster.
The military aircraft was carrying basic necessities needed by starving Papuans living in Yahukimo regency, such as instant noodles, baby food and medicines, said Rizal Mallarangeng, an aide to the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Aburizal Bakrie.
Other government officials vowed earlier in the day to lend a hand to Papuans suffering from lack of food, with Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah promising to send rice to the famine-affected areas while Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari vowed to send two teams of doctors.
The statement came after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the officials to take concerted measures to alleviate the suffering in Papua.
"We must save them first," said the President, who reportedly first head about the famine on Thursday from the news ticker on a local television station.
Before attending a function -- ironically celebrating food security -- at the State Palace on Thursday, the President ordered Aburizal to investigate the famine and tackle the problem. He also demanded accountability from Papuan leaders and vowed that once he found who was responsible, heads would roll.
The President admitted to experiencing mixed feelings as he presented food security awards to groups of people during the function, while at the same time Papuans were starving to death.
News of the famine became public after Yahukimo Regent Ones Pahabol told the media that at least 55 people had died from malnutrition and 112 others had fallen sick from related illnesses since November in Yahukimo. The failure of the sweet potato crop was to blame. The regency has a population of 55,000 people, who are currently having to do without their staple foodstuff, sweet potatoes.
The mountainous regency was originally part of Jayawijaya regency before it was hived off as a separate entity, and is located some 800 kilometers from Jayapura, the Papua capital. It can only be reached by plane.
Separately, a religious leader condemned the government for ignoring the people of people. The Rev. Socrates Sofyan Yoman said that development in Papua had been solely focused on projects and that the people in general had been neglected. The projects only benefited government officials and not the people, said Sofyan, the chairman of the Injili Church Synod in Papua. He said the government should have sought the participation of the churches in Papuan development as they were part of Papuan society and understood the people's needs.
Papua opposition figure Fadel Al Hamid said the famine showed that the government had failed to properly implement regional autonomy in Indonesia's easternmost province. "The funds transferred as part of regional autonomy are huge, but still there is famine," said Fadel, the secretary of the Papuan Tribal Council.
Fadel said that most of the autonomy funds had been looted by the Papuan elite, and had failed to improve the lot of the ordinary people. "This is ironic. Papua is rich in natural resources and yet people still die of famine. It's like mice dying of hunger inside a rice barn," said Fadel.
In Jakarta, legislators took turns to call on the government to immediately take concrete and comprehensive action to prevent such a tragedy occurring in other parts of the country.
House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono said the government had failed to institute an early detection system to prevent such disasters.