Rate of illegal logging ‘declines’ in Papua

The decline in the amount of timber seized from illegal loggers indicated a decline in illegal logging.

A decrease in the amount of illegal timber seized in Papua in 2010 reflects a decline in illegal logging, an official says.

“Illegal logging has decreased in Papua after a ban was placed on logs shipped out of Papua,” said Papua Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) head Ign. Suteja.

Suteja said that the decline in the amount of timber seized from illegal loggers indicated a decline in illegal logging.

Authorities in Papua seized 70.6 cubic meters of timber from illegal logging activities in 2010, at least one-third less than seizures in previous years.

“Illegal logging is usually widespread in Papua, but it has drastically declined recently as shown by the decrease in seized wood,” Suteja added.

Source: the Jakarta Post

Indonesian Government to Set Up Economic Hub

Future investors expected to be provided with enough information.

New economic hub is underway in Indonesia as the government plans to accelerate and expand the national development. Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa will address the Working Meeting on the Acceleration and Expansion of National Economic Development about the masterplan on February 21-22.

Six economic corridors are being prepared such as, “Sumatra and northern West Java, northern North Coast of Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Papua, eastern Java and Nusa Tenggara,” said Presidential adviser on Provincial Development and Autonomy, Velix Wanggai, today in a press release.

The Indonesian government expects the governors of the said provinces pay serious attention to their administration by presenting enough information to future investors.

Source: VIVAnews.com

Creating civil awareness towards law and human rights in Merauke

Hopefully local community could understand and aware on human rights and legal matters.

Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Papua in cooperation with Hapin Papua held a Workshop on Legal Education and Human Rights in Merauke, 18 – 20 January 2011.

The workshop aimed on sharing knowledge and raise awareness in the community on legal matters and human rights, such as investigation strategies and tactics, human rights violation advocacy, creating networks for human rights monitoring, forming a group to watch and support law and human rights law enforcement in Merauke.

The workshop was attended by 35 participants (18 woman and 17 male) from traditional leaders, religion leaders, youth leaders, head of villages and citizens.

The participants discussed several issues on legal and human rights in Merauke: drunk issues, rapes, illegal logging, expropriation of customary land rights, domestic violence, sand excavation in Buti and Yoba, gambling and health issue.

Topics delivered by presenters on the workshop were about introduction to International Human Rights, understandings on heavy human rights violation and genocide, knowlegde on civil rights on politics, economy and sociocultural, and understandings on definitions and types of violance against women and the punishment for the convicts.

There were also topics such as victim’s rights based on KUHP (Indonesian laws), skills for identification, interogation, analysis, and cronologic representation of an incident were elaborated to the participants.

Through this workshop, participants learn more on capacity building and development of basic skills on legal matters, which can be used to help the community on justice and human rights.

Having knowledge on these matters, local community will be able to support Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Papua in returne by observing, reporting and assisingt on violation of laws and human rights.

Source: Hapin

UNICEF grants US$4 million for Papua

An effort to improve the quality of education in Papua.

UNICEF says it has allocated US$4 million for the development of educational programs in Papua and West Papua provinces for the 2010-2012 period.

The support is being provided in an effort to improve the quality of education offered in the two provinces, said Sri Karna, a member of the UN body’s education staff in Biak.

Sri said the funding was intended to finance various programs, including school-based management and strategic education planning.

UNICEF was also closely monitoring the educational programs of other provinces, particularly Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and East Nusa Tenggara, she said.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Papuan youth must study hard: Governor

Governor of Papua Barnabas Suebu asked the youth to study hard to build Papua and the country in general.

“It`s time for the Papuan people to develop a new paradigm in making education as the most important sector in building a better generation,” said Mr. Suebu.

According to him, qualified education was very important for the Papuan youth to be not left behind in global competition.

“Papuans should start learning hard and leave bad habits to pursue good education for all,” he said.

He said good human resource should be prepared to develop Papua in technology.

Moreover, he added, the education quality in Papua, the most eastern Province of Indonesia, was still relatively low and therefore learning awareness needed to be increased as early as possible.

“This becomes the homework for all, including the government, parents and the youth,” he added.

He expected all Papuans not to stop learning.

Thus, he added, when they met their brothers from outside Papua, they would have a similar knowledge, not of second rate.

“I expect the students to study hard, and never think that education is only for obtaining a certificate,” he said.

Source: AntaraNews

Papuans welcomes development acceleration plan

The government to make sure that the development acceleration in Papua well conducted.

Papuan community leader and city councilor Athanasius Allo Rafra has welcomed the government plan to establish a taskforce in March in a bid to accelerate development in Papua and West Papua provinces.

“I support the establishment of the taskforce because the development of Papua and West Papua has progressed at a snail’s pace,” said Allo Rafra on Wednesday.

The taskforce (UP4B) would work to make sure the development of the provinces is conducted in line with government and community priorities.

Allo lamented that budget allocations in both provinces had been squandered because of unclear guidelines on development priorities.

“It isn’t clear where the priorities lie, whether it is in infrastructure, education, health or other sectors,” he said.

Allo said he hoped the taskforce would perform a similar function as the taskforce that helped Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Nias provinces to recover after the earthquake and tsunami.

He called on the central government to strictly supervise all development activities in Papua and West Papua to avoid misuse of the state budget.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Greenpeace Unveils Solar-Wind Hybrid Power System in West Papua, Indonesia

Greenpeace, a non-governmental environmental organization, has unveiled a solar-wind hybrid power system in West Papua, Indonesia. The organization requested the Indonesian government to utilize its abundant source of renewable energy.

The solar-wind hybrid power system has a capacity of one MW and it consists of solar panels producing 800 W of energy and a wind turbine generating 200 W of energy. The power system was constructed on Mansiman Island in Manokwari district.

A climate and energy campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Arif Fiyanto stated that the reason to select the island to house the project was, as only 32% of its population has access to electric power. Greenpeace would educate the inhabitants about the management and maintenance of the new power systems prior to presenting them to a broader area, he added.

Arif further said that Indonesia has a geothermal power potential of 28 GW whereas only 3% of that was explored by the nation. The government is required to be more involved for the development renewable energy in the region, he added.

Source: cleantech

US: Indonesia making progress on human rights

Indonesia’s military is largely moving in the right direction on human rights despite the videotaped torture of civilians in restive Papua, a senior US defense official said Tuesday.

Robert Scher, the top Pentagon official handling Southeast Asia, reiterated US concerns that the 10-month sentences handed last month to three soldiers over the abuse in Papua were too lenient.

But Scher added: “We do see that there was progress in the fact that this was a trial that was conducted quickly” and was “open and transparent.”

“This is not something that one could imagine happening just a few years ago,” Scher, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, said at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think-tank.

“I think there is still work to be done and clearly, as noted, we are concerned by the sentences,” he said, adding that the United States was raising the case with Indonesia.

President Barack Obama’s administration has put a priority on developing relations with Indonesia, believing the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation can offer a model due to its commitment to democracy and moderation.

“We’re in a pretty good position with Indonesia. Indonesia’s a critically important country for us,” Scher said, calling the archipelago an “emerging global player.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced in Jakarta in July that the United States would lift a 12-year suspension of contacts with Kopassus, the elite special unit accused of widespread abuse, mostly under military strongman Suharto’s rule which ended in 1998.

In last year’s video posted on YouTube, the soldiers were seen inflicting a burning stick on the genitals of an unarmed man and threatening another with a knife as they interrogated them about the location of a weapons cache.

Papua, the ethnic Melanesian-majority western half of New Guinea island, has witnessed a low-intensity conflict for decades since a controversial vote by select tribal leaders to incorporate into Indonesia.

Source: AFP