Govt to lift emergency status in North Maluku

Govt to lift emergency status in North Maluku

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is preparing a presidential decree that will lift
the civil emergency status in North Maluku, which has been in
place for three years due to sectarian violence.

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said the government
considered that security in the province had improved to normal
levels.

"The situation in North Maluku is relatively conducive and it
deserves a normal status," Hari said after a ministerial meeting
on political and security affairs in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The government, however, has no plan to lift the emergency
status in the neighboring province of Maluku, despite the
improvement in security there.

Sectarian conflict between Christians and Muslims first broke
out in the Maluku capital of Ambon on Jan. 19, 1999 and spread to
the northern part of the province, which was eventually separated
as a new province. Thousands were killed during the violence.

The government of President Abdurrahman Wahid imposed the
emergency status in July 2000. The administration of his
successor Megawati Soekarnoputri placed Maluku and North Maluku
under a security restoration operation in May 2002, three months
after both warring groups signed a peace agreement in the South
Sulawesi town of Malino.

Hari said he had received a report from new North Maluku
Governor Thaib Armayin saying the province's status should be
restored. The provincial administration is preparing the
establishment of police and military institutions.

He said civil emergency status would be maintained in Maluku
because illegal possession of arms remained rampant particularly
in Ambon and its surrounding areas, despite routine searches for
weapons.

Besides, Maluku has no definite government following the end
of the tenure of Saleh Latuconsina last November. The government
has named caretaker governor Sinyo Sarundayang, the director
general of national integration under the home minister, to
prepare a gubernatorial election.

"The acting governor is deliberating the provincial budget
with the provincial legislature, which is expected to be passed
later this month," Hari said.

After the provincial budget is approved, Sinyo will have to
resume the election process of the Maluku governor.

"We will wait until the situation is thoroughly under control
and a governor is elected before we lift the civil emergency
status in Maluku," Hari said.