Papua Governor Solossa dies

The Jakarta Post, Jayapura/Jakarta

Papua Governor Jacobus Perviddya Solossa died on Monday shortly after he was admitted to the hospital due to a suspected heart attack.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately sent his condolences to the family over the death of the governor, who was a persistent advocate of special autonomy for the natural resource-rich but underdeveloped province.

Speaking in an unscheduled media conference at the State Palace, the President said he had ordered Vice President Jusuf Kalla to lead the funeral of Solossa, scheduled for Tuesday.

Susilo said he had wanted to preside over the burial ceremony, but was scheduled to induct military and police academy graduates in Surabaya on that day. Susilo led the funeral of North Sumatra Governor Tengku Rizal Nurdin, who died in a plane crash in September.

Solossa died at 59 years old, as Papua came into the media spotlight after famine killed at least 55 people in villages in the remote Yahukimo regency. One hundred and twelve others were hospitalized.

An on-duty emergency care doctor at the Dok 2 General Hospital in the provincial capital of Jayapura, Theopilus O Lay, said Solossa was unconscious when his driver admitted him at 8:55 p.m. East Indonesia Time (6:55 p.m. Jakarta time).

Quoting the driver, Theopilus said the governor complained about respiratory problems on his way from a Christmas celebration at the Cendrawasih Sports Hall to commemorate Indonesia's fight for sovereignty over Papua at his office.

"The driver said the governor fell unconscious en route to the hospital. There was a little bit of a foam-like discharge from his mouth and we detected no arterial beat, but we kept giving him a cardiac massage," Theopilus said.

Doctors immediately moved Solossa to the Intensive Care Unit but at 9:45 p.m. they declared the governor dead.

A holder of a doctorate in politics from Padjadjaran University, Solossa is survived by his wife Emma Yacomina Maury and two children, Ekatherma MS Solossa and Aquino LR Solossa.

Born in Sorong on May 8, 1948, Solossa started his political career in the Golkar Party. One year into his second term as a House of Representatives legislator, he won the Papua gubernatorial election in 2000. His tenure as the governor had expired last month but the government extended it until January next year to prepare for the first direct gubernatorial election.