Wednesday, February 11, 2015

1) West Papuans lobby Fiji support for MSG bid


2) Fiji Backs West Papua To Join Melanesian Spearhead Group
3) Vanuatu buoyed by PNG's West Papua call
4) Statement by the Executive-Director of LP3BH on 6th February 2015

5) Premium costs Rp 200.000  per liter in remote West  Papua 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/265891/west-papuans-lobby-fiji-support-for-msg-bid


1) West Papuans lobby Fiji support for MSG bid

Updated at 9:15 pm on 11 February 2015

The secretary-general of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua has been in Fiji meeting government and parliament figures as well as church leaders.
Octo Mote is seeking Fiji's support for the Movement's bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
The ULM last week submitted its membership application to the MSG Secretariat in Port Vila where the Vanuatu government has been assisting the West Papuan representative group in its submission.
Mr Mote has signalled that support for their application has been forthcoming from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia's FLNKS movement.
But support for West Papuan membership is not guaranteed from the other MSG members, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, and the ULM is keenly lobbying both governments on its submission.
Mr Mote says the West Papuans respect the diplomatic relations between Fiji and Indonesia, and believes Fijian support for their cause will not jeopardise these relations.
He reassured Fiji that supporting West Papua's entry to the MSG does not mean West Papua will be independent, and is not a threat to the Indonesian Government.
Mr Mote's meetings in Fiji were arranged with assistance from the Pacific Conference of Churches Secretariat, and involved dialogue with the Methodist Church, who the secretary-general says have offered to write to the MSG secretariat in support of the bid.
He also met with Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola and Opposition Leader Ro Teimumu Kepa.
Mr Mote says both showed willingness to support West Papua's bid and that he looks forward to further talks with Fiji's leadership in March.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Published On:February 11, 2015
Posted by Niugini Nius

2) Fiji Backs West Papua To Join Melanesian Spearhead Group

FIJI'S Government and Opposition have indicated their commitment to help West Papua join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.




In meetings with activist Octavianus Mote yesterday, Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola and Opposition Leader Ro Teimumu Kepa showed willingness to support West Papua's bid.

"I am very pleased with the reception to the visit and look forward to further talks with our Fijian friends in March," Mote said.

"The CSO community and the Methodist Church in Fiji have been very gracious in offering to write to the MSG Secretariat in support of our request for membership."

The MSG will meet in March to discuss an application from the new joint West Papua Liberation movement formed in December 2014.

Mote's meetings with stakeholders in Fiji were facilitated by the Pacific Conference of Churches Secretariat.

Mote indicated that support for the application was clear from Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

"We are quite certain that PNG will support us as they were behind the move for the West Papua opposition parties to unify before applying for MSG membership," Mote said.

"And Fiji in 2013 had told us that we should apply for full membership of the MSG so we hope they will support our application."

Mote returned to the United States today.

The former journalist fled Indonesia in 1999 and lives in exile in the US.


Posted by Niugini Nius on Wednesday, February 11, 2015. Filed under  . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Feel free to leave a response



----------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/265910/vanuatu-buoyed-by-png's-west-papua-call

3) Vanuatu buoyed by PNG's West Papua call

Updated 25 minutes ago


Vanuatu's government has welcomed a call by the Papua New Guinea prime minister that the time has come to speak out against human rights abuses in West papua.
In his strongest statement yet about West Papua, Peter O'Neill said PNG had a moral obligation to no longer ignore the indigenous people of its neighbouring territory.
The Public Relations officer for Vanuatu's Prime Minister Kiery Manassah says for many years PNG found it difficult to speak out about West Papua.
"Even though in terms of the level of support (for West Papuan rights) at the grassroots level is quite big, but at the top level it's unheard of for Papua New Guinea to speak out. So for them to come out through Prime Minister Peter O'Neill to condemn the abuses is a welcome stance, and we just hope that they will continue to push that forward."
Kiery Manassah says PNG's support is crucial if the West Papua bid for membership at the Melanesian Spearhead Group is to be successful.
---------------------------------------------------------------
4) Statement by the Executive-Director of LP3BH on 6th February 2015

  The decision by the Papuan people through the intermediary of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua to apply for membership of
the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) should win the broad support  of all those who are campaigning to support the political rights of the Papuan people.

 The application was registered with the Secretariat of the MSG on 5 February this year and is due to be discussed  in July this year. With
strong support, this could help secure success for this move which has been under way for a long time. The struggle for the basic political rights of the Papuan people
which is based on their experiences in the Land of Cenderawasih, has been going on for more than fifty years during which time they have
been subjected to numerous destructive measures taken by the Republic of Indonesia. These measures were perpetrated by the security forces
and the government against the civilian population in a many forms, physical as well as psychological.

  Those measures are totally against basic human rights, against the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia as well as against Law
39/1999 on Human Rights Courts, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and various international covenants on economic,social and
cultural rights. The application to join the MSG is in accord with a number of international covenants and is also in line with a statement made
several years ago by Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, when he said that this problem should be discussed by the  UN
Decolonisation Commission which is based in New York. This also means that the application that was recently made by the
Papuan people through the United Movement for the Liberation of Papua is closely associated with the objectives of DAP - the Council of
Indigenous People - as well as other Papuan organisations which have reached agreement on this matter. It is also supported by the
Indigenous People's Council of Vanuatu.

  In my opinion, the application  should be reinforced by Papuan people everywhere and their leaders, by every means possible. DAP should do everything possible to stand firmly against all kinds of intervention from anywhere around the world. DAP would be the very
first institution that takes action in accordance with its legal position as the protector of the basic rights of the Indigenous Papuan
people.  If DAP takes a firm stand on this matter, it will win respect from the central government and from people throughout Indonesia as the
institution that works with determination to protect the rights of the indigenous people.

Yan Christian Warinussy, Executive-Director of LP3BH - Manokwari.

[Translated by Carmel Budiardjo]
---------------------------------------------------------------
5) Premium costs Rp 200.000  per liter in remote West  Papua 
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Archipelago | Wed, February 11 2015, 10:45 AM - 
Due to expensive transportation costs, the Premium fuel price set by Pertamina of Rp 6.600 (50 US cents) per liter is selling for Rp 200.000 per liter in East Moskona, an isolated district in Teluk Bintuni regency, West Papua.
East Moskona district head Jendri Salakory said in Manokwari, West Papua, on Wednesday that Premium began selling for Rp 250.000 per liter after the government raised the fuel price to Rp 8.500 from Rp 6.500 per liter.
“The skyrocketing price of Premium [gasoline] in East Moskona has a lot to do with costly transportation [getting to] the district,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency, adding that East Moskona could only reached by air.
“A charter small plane is paid Rp 85 million for one flight while a charter chopper costs Rp 146 million,” he said.
He called on the government to begin developing land transportation that would stimulate the local economy and allow local residents to "enter modernity".
He added that East Moskona was just one of many isolated districts in the resource-rich province. (rms)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.