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)