600 Army Officers Deployed to Guard Papua Freeport Mine

At least 600 army officers will help secure the working areas of the PT Freeport Indonesia mine in Timika, Papua, starting on September 2, following a number of armed attacks on the site.

‘Precarious’ Papua Needs Government Focus

The man who led President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s campaign team in Papua for the July presidential election urged the government on Sunday to pay more attention to the province, where he said conditions were becoming “more and more precarious.”

Papua’s place in Indonesia

The Independent UK

The article “Bows, arrows and a dream of liberation” (14 August), about Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) is short on facts. Former President Soeharto did not die in 1998, but he resigned that year, and died only last year. But in 1998 the period of reformation started, which democratised the whole of Indonesia, including Papua where, as a result of the 2001 autonomy laws, all major positions are in the hands of native Papuans, including the two governorships of the provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Indonesian Football Champion Persipura Needs New Home

Persipura Jayapura is looking for a temporary new home while Mandala Stadium in Jayapura, Papua, undergoes renovations.
The Indonesian Super League champion has more than just local competitions on its plate in the upcoming season after qualifying for the AFC Champions League group stage.

Despite its approval to host Super League matches this season, the 17,500-seat Mandala needs a heavy overhaul to stage Asian-class events; one that will take until at least February 2010.

“It’s a total renovation. The Papua government provided Rp 22 billion [$2.2 million] for the project,” Persipura official La Siya said in Jakarta on Thursday. “We are doing the project in compliance with AFC requirements, so it will be suitable for the AFC Champions League.”

With that in mind, the Black Pearls set out to find a new home stadium for its domestic matches. Makassar, South Sulawesi, and Malang, East Java, are their preferred options.

La Siya said the club would send a team to check the stadiums in those cities as it must meet a tight Aug. 31 deadline to declare its home stadium.

“There will be a team checking Andi Mattalatta Stadium in Makassar this weekend,” he said. “We’ll also consider moving to Malang or Gresik, East Java. Tri Dharma Stadium in Gresik has met the Super League requirements. Besides, we don’t have to share the venue with other ISL clubs.”

Tri Dharma Stadium is the home ground of Premier Division club Gresik United.

Persipura is not the only club moving into new digs. Pelita Jaya parted company with Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung, West Java, and chose Singaperbangsa Stadium in Karawang, West Java, as its new home ground.

Pelita Jaya shared Si Jalak Harupat with Persib Bandung for most of last season.

Meanwhile, two East Kalimantan clubs — Bontang FC and Persiba Balikpapan — failed to show up at the Super League verification process in Jakarta on Thursday. The league rescheduled its meeting with both clubs to today.

“If both clubs fail to show up on Friday, then it will affect their appraisal for the Super League license,” said Tigor Shalom Boboy, the corporate secretary of PT Liga Indonesia. “Their fate will be decided in the plenary meeting.”

West Papua has rolled back the poverty rate by above four percent

During five years of the Yudhoyono administration, the government managed to help 13 provinces cut poverty rate to under 10 percent.

The provinces include West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, Bangka-Belitung, Riau Islands, DKI Jakarta, Banten, Bali, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan and North Sulawesi.

“However, every province has succeeded in reducing poverty rate,” said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday, August 19.

In addition, he said, the government noted that six provinces have rolled back the poverty rate by above four percent. The provinces include Aceh, East Nusa Tenggara, West Kalimantan, Gorontalo, West Sulawesi and West Papua.

Moreover, several provinces such as West Sumatra, Riau, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Papua and West Papua have suppressed unemployment rate by above three percent.

Yudhoyono declares regional autonomy a success

Erwida Maulia , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 08/19/2009 5:34 PM | National

Despite lingering concerns over poor implementation in the field, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said regional autonomy has been successful during his five years as president.

$30b Set Aside to Fund Regional Development

The government has plans to allocate more than Rp 300 trillion to regional areas in 2010 to support the implementation of fiscal decentralization.

Regional Division of Papua Province has Positive Values for The People of Papua

by JRG Djopari*)

1. INTRODUCTION

The aim of this article is to inform readers about why the province of Papua (formerly known as lrian Jaya) needs to be divided into more than one province. Apart from pros and cons toward the policy of regional division of Papua into three provinces, the writer, through this article is trying to discuss the issue briefly, particularly on the reasoning process developed chronologically before the idea of the division became a national as well provincial issue. It is hoped that this writing may give a clear picture to the readers so that they can understand what has happened thus far and what were the issues and concerns behind the regional division policy of Papua Province. Above all, the issue will return to the people of Papua themselves, whether they understand well and are aware of the advantage and disadvantage of the policy in question.

Hess to drill exploration well in Papua next yr – govt

JAKARTA, Aug 11 (Reuters) – U.S. firm Hess Corp (HES.N) will drill at least one exploration well in Papua next year, an official at Indonesia’s mines and energy ministry said on Tuesday.

Indonesia has awarded Semai V, an offshore block west of Papua province last year.

Vanuatu PM says simply no time to discuss Papua at Forum

Vanuatu Prime Minister, Edward Natapei says there simply wasn’t time to raise the issue of West Papua at the Pacific Islands forum meeting.

Edward Natapei says NGOs, like Amnesty International and Red Cross, have illustrated what is happening in Papua.

“There was no need for us to raise it again here In the interest of time, we in fact at the leader’s summit ran out of time, the time period given, so we were able to deal with what was on the agenda and but nothing other than that.”

Edward Natapei says a fact-finding mission by the Melanesian Spearhead Group may still go ahead.

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