HIV/AIDS infections rising rapidly in Papua: Official

Jakarta Post Thu, 11/13/2008 10:34 AM | The Archipelago

The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Papua is increasing every year with 319 new cases reported as of October, taking the total to 4,114 reported cases.

HIV/AIDS was first reported in Papua in 1992 when six Thai fishermen visited Merauke.

Of the 319 new cases, 174 have been confirmed as AIDS while the remaining 145 are infected with HIV, said Papua AIDS Commission (KPAD) chairman, Constan Karma.

Hundreds of people welcome anti-graft chief in Timika

The Jakarta Post [web site]
Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Markus Makur, The Jakarta Post, Timika

Hundreds of people swarmed the usually quiet Mose Kilangin
international airport in Timika, Papua, to greet Antasari Azhar,
the Corruption Eraducation Commission (KPK) chair, but they
failed to see him.

Antara news agency reported that Antasari was whisked to a
waiting car after disembarking from the Garuda airplane that had
brought him from Jayapura, Papua’s provincial capital. The car
took him straight to a hotel in the town.

Free West Papua Campaign: Two Face

Dear readers of Papua Story,

There are two important messages from London regarding the recent launch of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua which was launched in the Houses of Parliament, London on 15th October 2008.

First, it showing a face of separatist supporters who don’t understand the socio-economic-politico improvement in  West Papua.

Second, it is showing a face of liars who love to create public disturbance in the peaceful God’s land of Papua.

For those of you in all parts of the world who care for Papua, please read further information at Free West Papua Website. You can also jump to several articles as follows:

1. Free West Papua Campaign

2. International Parliamentarians for West Papua

3. West Papua Separatist Supporters

4. The Cowardice Issue

25 Regencies to receive education grants

25 Regencies to receive education grants
Jakarta (ANTARA News) – A total of 25 regencies/cities in Indonesia receives a Basic Education Capacity Trust Fund (BEC-TF) worth 39 million euro, the equivalent of 51 million US dollars, from the European Commission and the Dutch Government through the World Bank as trustee, for educational reforms at regional level.

The joint agreement of the BEC-TF was signed by Basic and Middle Education Director General at the National Education Ministry Suyanto along with 25 representatives from the 2008 first-stage recipient regency/city administrations at the Ministry of National Education in Jakarta on Thursday, in the presence of World Bank, European Commission , Dutch government, and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) representatives.

“The program is funded by the Dutch Government with 22 million euro and the European Commission 17 million euro.

As a commitment in the implementation of the program, the recipient regency/city administrations provide support in the form of local cost and technical teams.

The first-stage recipient regencies/cities came from six provinces, namely Nangroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Papua, and West Papua,” Suyanto said in his address.

Suyanto said the BEC-TF program is aimed at raising the regional administrations` capacity in improving management and the quality of education within the context of decentralization focused on financial planning and management, bolstering information system, monitoring and evaluating system, human resources planning and evaluation.

“The BEC-TF program gets the financial support from the European Commission and the Dutch Governemnt through the World Bank allocated in the form of technical support and grant. This program is a pioneering undertaking in the education sector employing the Sector Wide Approach (SWAp) preparatory to enter a wider program, namely an Education System Improvement and Sector Wide Approach (SISWA),” he said.

Suyanto added that this program to support a strategic education plan in Indonesia will be implemented in a period of five years starting from 2008 to 2012.

“This program is also to facilitate bilateral and multilateral cooperation programs supporting basic education improvement,” he said.

“Skills in planning, implementation, and monitoring need special preparations, and the BEC-TF is expected to increase these skills at regency/city level, and may eventually developed into a joint commitment,” he said.

The grant recipients from NAD province are Lhokseumawe city, Aceh Besar regency, Aceh Barat Daya regency, Nagan Raya regency, and Aceh Utara regency. Those from Central Java province are Wonogiri Regency, Demak Regency, Sragen Regency,Blora Regency, Rembang Regency, Purbalingga Regency, and Banjarnegara Regency. The grant recipients from Yogyakarta Province are Kulon Progo and Sleman regencies.

Meanwhile, those from East Java province are the regencies of Pacitan, Ngawi, Nganjuk, Sampang, Trenggalek, and Bondowoso, while those from Papua province are Jayapura City and Nabire Regency, and those from West Papua province are the regencies of Manokwari, Kaimana, and Teluk Wondana.

It is planned that the handing over of the second-stage grants to 15 regencies/cities in nine provinces in Indonesia will take place in 2009. (*)

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