Irianese leaders spell out ambitions, praise Habibie

Irianese leaders spell out ambitions, praise Habibie

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): A number of Irianese leaders
praised President B.J. Habibie on Monday for giving them their
first ever chance to convey their aspirations directly to the
President.

Herman Saud, the head of the synod of the Evangelical
Christian Church, said such a meeting had never happened before.

An Irianese delegation met Habibie last Friday, after which
several members of the group publicly voiced aspirations for
independence.

Habibie's response to selected delegates that the Irianese
should reconsider the idea and weigh the benefits and advantages
of independence was positive, the head of the provincial council,
Nataniel Kaiway said.

Chairman of the provincial branch of a national youth
movement, Yan L. Ayomi, also a member of the council, said that
what was now important for the indigenous Irianese "is the
recovery of people's political, economic, social and cultural
rights".

He said that he had no objection to independence, but that
recovery of basic rights "would go a long way to make the
Irianese feel at home in their own land".

Activists and observers have frequently said that development
in the province has yet to meet the needs of Irianese, which
contributes to feelings of resentment toward the central
government.

Governor Freddy Numberi and other legislators also urged
Habibie in their meeting to pay more attention to the needs of
locals.

Head of the province's Golkar party, Nataniel Kaiway, also the
council Speaker, said a program whereby strategic bureaucratic
positions were given to Irianese could be achieved. A five to 10
year project would contribute to, for instance, the number of
Irianese engaged in postgraduate studies, or the number of locals
chosen as heads of provincial offices of ministries.

Separately, about 50 technical students staged a protest at
the council Monday demanding that businesses of mining company PT
Freeport Indonesia and forest concession holders be closed down.

They blamed the businesses for environmental destruction in
the province.

The government has yet to give adequate response to the
demands aired in earlier protests, a student representative,
Yosias Worombay, said. (34)