Senator Urges Police to Crack Down on Illegal Gold Mining in West Papua

A member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD RI) for the West Papua electoral district, Lamek Dowansiba, has urged the National Police to immediately enforce the law and conduct a comprehensive crackdown on illegal gold mining activities operating in Manokwari Regency and the Arfak Mountains Regency (Pegaf), West Papua. “As a member of Committee I of the DPD RI, I urge the West Papua Police Chief, Inspector General Alfred Papare, to carry out firm, professional, measured, and impartial law enforcement against all illegal gold mining activities operating in West Papua,” Lamek said in a written statement in Jakarta on Monday. Lamek emphasised that unlicensed mining activities constitute a legal violation that must not be tolerated, as they have the potential to cause state losses, damage the environment, trigger social conflicts, and eliminate the rights of indigenous communities to manage natural resources in accordance with legal provisions. As a member of Committee I of the DPD RI, which oversees law enforcement, human rights violations, agrarian and land affairs, and regional governance, Lamek believes law enforcement officers must immediately take concrete steps to halt the increasingly widespread illegal mining activities in West Papua. He stressed that unlicensed mining practices contravene the provisions of Law Number 3 of 2020 concerning Amendments to Law Number 4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining (Minerba). Therefore, the state must not lose out to illegal mining practices that harm the public interest. Lamek acknowledged that he has received aspirations from indigenous communities in Manokwari and the Arfak Mountains who wish for community mining activities to obtain legal certainty through legal mechanisms regulated by the government. According to him, these aspirations must be clearly distinguished from illegal mining activities carried out by large investors without official permits. “We support the community’s right to obtain legality through the Community Mining Area (WPR) and Community Mining Permit (IPR) mechanisms. However, as long as this legality does not yet exist, all mining activities without permits remain a legal violation and must be brought under control,” he said. Regarding allegations of involvement by certain parties as providers of operational vehicles and fuel oil (BBM) suppliers, Lamek said his team is still gathering data and information from the community before submitting these findings to the authorities. “We will later go directly to inspect the mining sites in the Wasirawi River and the Arfak Mountains to ascertain the conditions on the ground while directly absorbing the community’s aspirations,” he said. He assured that all aspirations and findings obtained would be formally brought to the DPD RI for follow-up in accordance with applicable institutional mechanisms. “The bottom line is that illegal gold mining activities must be stopped and brought under control first. At the same time, the regional government and the central government must accelerate the process of establishing Community Mining Areas so that the community obtains legal certainty in managing their natural resources. We have already conveyed this to the Executive Committee for the Acceleration of Special Autonomy Development for Papua and to the leadership of Committee I,” Lamek stated. Lamek added that, based on information obtained by his team, only the Arfak Mountains Regency and Teluk Wondama Regency have submitted recommendations for revisions to their Regional Spatial Plans (RTRW) as one of the requirements to support the WPR establishment process. “Therefore, we urge the Manokwari Regency Government to immediately submit a recommendation for changes to the RTRW. This step is important so that the proposal for a Community Mining Area in the Wasirawi area can be processed and realised in accordance with applicable legal provisions,” he concluded.