Megawati comforts Papuans on Christmas

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

President Megawati Soekarnoputri celebrated Christmas in Papua and marked the granting of concessions under the special autonomous status to help improve the welfare of Papuans.

Accompanied by a number of her Cabinet ministers and her husband, Taufik Kiemas, Megawati joined thousands of Christian Papuans and local officials in celebrating Christmas at the sports stadium in the provincial capital of Jayapura.

The President, along with a local singer, sang her favorite song, My Way, to express her gratitude for the gradual improvement in security and order in the province. She said security and public order were needed to develop the province.

"We have to stop condemning one another and each side has to stop all security disturbances so that we can continue to develop the province to help improve people's welfare. Under the special autonomous status, Papua has to progress in all fields," the President said in her speech during the ceremony.

Megawati was referring to the cancellation of her visit to celebrate Christmas in the province last December.

It was Megawati's first visit to the easternmost province since she became President. She visited Papua in 2000 when she was vice president.

Megawati and her entourage left Jakarta on Wednesday and spent a night in Biak before proceeding onward to Jayapura on Thursday.

The President considered her visit very important amid the increasing demand for the territory's separation from Indonesia following the collapse of former president Soeharto's New Order regime in 1998 and rampant human rights abuses in the province.

Despite the quelling of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), many Papuans, who mostly live in primitive conditions in remote areas of the large province, have demanded a referendum in protest of rampant human rights abuses and exploitation of their natural resources, especially during the New Order era.

Demand for the territory's independence has been increasing due to what Papuans say is a lack of the government's will to bring human rights perpetrators to justice and to cope with what they call "unfair treatment".

Many Papuans have been angered with the murder of proindependence figure Dortheys "Theys" Hiyo Eluway in Nov. 2000.

In response to mounting demand for independence, the government granted special autonomy to the province to allow it to have greater authority over its own affairs.

Under Law No. 21/2001, the province receives 70 percent of the government's income from the exploration of its natural resources. Papua receives Rp 6 trillion (US$665,000) in revenue from copper and gold mine company PT Freeport Indonesia, in addition to revenue from oil exploration in the province.

The province will also receive more income from the exploration of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Tangguh project in Manokwari, of which its initial development was officially launched by the President in Jayapura.

Besides providing job opportunities for thousands of Papuans, the province will also receive a larger portion of the government's revenue from the exploration of LNG.

Papua Governor Jaap Solossa said Megawati's visit to the province was meaningful, and added that her visit was proof to Papuans that the central government was paying serious attention to the province.

Bishop Ferdinand Sahadung stressed that peace was the true meaning of Christmas and that all sides should bear in mind that conflicts in the province could be solved peacefully and without weapons.

He said the government had deployed many soldiers and spent money on buying guns to kill its people, but the conflict remains unresolved.

Besides efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully, the government should focus on developing Papua, as a majority of the population live in poverty, he said.

"The government should develop public infrastructure, such as roads, markets, schools and churches, and invite more investors to develop the province. It should issue a policy that gives indigenous people more access to education and to help them find a better way of life," he said.