1) West Papua
nabs double accolades
2) LANDOWNERS
URGE MERAUKE SEA PORT ADMINISTRATOR TO PAY LAND COMPENSATION
3) PLN: LAND DISPUTE OBSTRUCTS CONSTRUCTION OF
TOWERS
4) SECURITY
NOT ONLY RESPONSIBILITY OF POLICE, MILITARY, SECURITY MINISTRY OFFICIAL SAYS
5) POLICE URGED
TO ENFORCE LAW IN DEALING WITH MIMIKA CONFLICT
6) Rise of
China dampens local squabbles between Australia and Indonesia
7)
Australia-Indonesia relations: Abbott's chance to meet with SBY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) West Papua nabs double accolades
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Wed, April 30 2014, 9:37 AM
The eastern province of West Papua has claimed two trophies for speeding up its achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are set to conclude in 2015.
National Development Planning Minister Armida Alisjahbana, alongside the president’s special envoy for MDGs, Nila Moeloek, handed out the MDG awards on Tuesday at the 2014 National Development Pre-Assembly closing ceremony in Jakarta.
West Papua won the MDG award for the Fastest Poverty Rate Reduction measured during the 2011-2013 period, outpacing neighboring Papua in second place and North Maluku in third.
According to 2013 statistics by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), West Papua’s percentage of poor people fell 1.16 percent from 28.2 percent in 2011 to 27.04 percent in 2012.
The province, formed in January 2003, also won third place in Best Progress in Achieving the MDGs for the same three-year period. It was beaten by second place Southeast Sulawesi and last year’s winner, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).
In 2011, the Human Development Index was 69.65 in West Papua, 70.55 in Southeast Sulawesi and 66.23 in NTB.
Meanwhile, Yogyakarta leapfrogged Bali and Jakarta to win the award for Best Achievement. Last year, Jakarta won the honor and Bali placed second. The Bali administration, however, played down its loss.
“This award is an honor for Bali, but more importantly, it shows how the implementation of our programs could be felt by the people,” said Bali Development Planning Board (Bappeda) head Putu Astawa after the awards ceremony, as quoted by Antara news agency.
MDGs secretariat representative from the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), Arum Atmawikarta, elaborated on how each province was rated for the award categories.
“For instance, the MDG award for Fastest Poverty Reduction was measured using combined figures from the poverty line percentage, poverty gap index and the proportion of people consuming less than the minimum calorie intake of 1,400 kilocalories per capita per day,” Arum told The Jakarta Post, adding that each award category used a percentage scale from 0 to 1.
Nila, who led the 10-member independent team that assessed and determined the award winners, revealed that the scores for each province were a composite of statistics published by the BPS from 2011 through 2013.
Nila added that the scores were relative to those currently pursuing the MDG targets.
“So even though Jakarta has achieved more indicators, it wouldn’t necessarily win an award due to the plateauing rate of improvement,” she told the Post.
Minister Armida said regions needed to overcome weak bureaucracy to achieve the MDG targets.
“For public services to be effective [in the regions], there must be bureaucratic reform,” Armida said. She added that Indonesia had long joined world commitments to the MDG program, which revolved around poverty reduction, gender equality, level of education, clean water and quality sanitation, among other things.
She added that Indonesia was still lagging behind in health, especially with its high maternal mortality rate — the highest in the region, with 359 women dying for every 100,000 live births.
“The maternal mortality rate
is not only a central government issue but it also affects local governments and households. That and difficult access to health facilities like community health centers [Puskesmas],” she said.
The MDG award ceremony concludes Wednesday with the announcement of the award for Most MDG Indicators Achieved in the last three years. Last year, NTB was awarded for achieving the most MDG indicators for the period of 2010-2012. (tjs)
National Development Planning Minister Armida Alisjahbana, alongside the president’s special envoy for MDGs, Nila Moeloek, handed out the MDG awards on Tuesday at the 2014 National Development Pre-Assembly closing ceremony in Jakarta.
West Papua won the MDG award for the Fastest Poverty Rate Reduction measured during the 2011-2013 period, outpacing neighboring Papua in second place and North Maluku in third.
According to 2013 statistics by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), West Papua’s percentage of poor people fell 1.16 percent from 28.2 percent in 2011 to 27.04 percent in 2012.
The province, formed in January 2003, also won third place in Best Progress in Achieving the MDGs for the same three-year period. It was beaten by second place Southeast Sulawesi and last year’s winner, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).
In 2011, the Human Development Index was 69.65 in West Papua, 70.55 in Southeast Sulawesi and 66.23 in NTB.
Meanwhile, Yogyakarta leapfrogged Bali and Jakarta to win the award for Best Achievement. Last year, Jakarta won the honor and Bali placed second. The Bali administration, however, played down its loss.
“This award is an honor for Bali, but more importantly, it shows how the implementation of our programs could be felt by the people,” said Bali Development Planning Board (Bappeda) head Putu Astawa after the awards ceremony, as quoted by Antara news agency.
MDGs secretariat representative from the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), Arum Atmawikarta, elaborated on how each province was rated for the award categories.
“For instance, the MDG award for Fastest Poverty Reduction was measured using combined figures from the poverty line percentage, poverty gap index and the proportion of people consuming less than the minimum calorie intake of 1,400 kilocalories per capita per day,” Arum told The Jakarta Post, adding that each award category used a percentage scale from 0 to 1.
Nila, who led the 10-member independent team that assessed and determined the award winners, revealed that the scores for each province were a composite of statistics published by the BPS from 2011 through 2013.
Nila added that the scores were relative to those currently pursuing the MDG targets.
“So even though Jakarta has achieved more indicators, it wouldn’t necessarily win an award due to the plateauing rate of improvement,” she told the Post.
Minister Armida said regions needed to overcome weak bureaucracy to achieve the MDG targets.
“For public services to be effective [in the regions], there must be bureaucratic reform,” Armida said. She added that Indonesia had long joined world commitments to the MDG program, which revolved around poverty reduction, gender equality, level of education, clean water and quality sanitation, among other things.
She added that Indonesia was still lagging behind in health, especially with its high maternal mortality rate — the highest in the region, with 359 women dying for every 100,000 live births.
“The maternal mortality rate
is not only a central government issue but it also affects local governments and households. That and difficult access to health facilities like community health centers [Puskesmas],” she said.
The MDG award ceremony concludes Wednesday with the announcement of the award for Most MDG Indicators Achieved in the last three years. Last year, NTB was awarded for achieving the most MDG indicators for the period of 2010-2012. (tjs)
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2) LANDOWNERS URGE MERAUKE SEA PORT ADMINISTRATOR TO PAY LAND COMPENSATION
Merauke, (28/4 (Jubi)- Eight customary landowners went to the Merauke Sea Port Administrator Office to demand it pay 3 billion rupiah in compensation for the use of their land.
The Police Chief of the Sea Port Sector, First Inspector Theodorus Tawaru told tabloidjubi.com on Monday (28/4) the landowners led by Marselino Mahuze at first aimed to conduct a protest and a blockage in front of the office, but then withdrew after a negotiation.
“I told the customary landowners that we are ready to facilitate a dialog between the landowners and the Head or the Deputy of Sea Port Administrator Office, but the police would take action if they blocked the office,” the chief said.
“I told the customary landowners that we are ready to facilitate a dialog between the landowners and the Head or the Deputy of Sea Port Administrator Office, but the police would take action if they blocked the office,” the chief said.
According to Tawaru, the landowners finally agreed to meet with the Officer in Charge, Demianus Kowa, to represent the head who was not present at that time.
“We only did our duty to ensure the security, while the rest is the responsibility between the Head of Sea Port Administrator Office and the landowners. But the point is we have well facilitated a dialogue,” the Chief said.
“We only did our duty to ensure the security, while the rest is the responsibility between the Head of Sea Port Administrator Office and the landowners. But the point is we have well facilitated a dialogue,” the Chief said.
Separately, Kowa confirmed the meeting but he said he could not take any decision on behalf of the office.
“I only said to the landowners that I would forward their demand to the head,” he said.
“I only said to the landowners that I would forward their demand to the head,” he said.
Kowa said the landowners initially asked for Rp 750 million but increased the demand to Rp 1.5 billion and then Rp 3 billion. “What have been said by the landowners, I still need to report it to the head,” he said.
A customary landowner, Marselino Mahuze said the landowners agreed to give the company time until next month. They threaten to block the port if the payment was not settled by then. (Jubi/Frans L Kobun/rom)
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3) PLN: LAND DISPUTE OBSTRUCTS CONSTRUCTION OF TOWERS
Jayapura, 29/4 (Jubi)- Non-technical obstacles such as land disputes with landowners are hampering the construction of the Genyem and Holtekam hydro-power transmission towers, the state electricity company PLN said.
“It’s not the first time, but it’s a part of the prior process and we must solve this issue as soon as possible,” General Manager of the Construction Unit XIV of PT PLN, Robertus Sitorus, said after meeting the Jayapura mayor on Tuesday (29/4).
Because without a transmission tower of 70 Kilo Volt to transmit electricity supplies from 225 locations, there will not be enough electricity supplies to Jayapura.
“It doesn’t mean the process of releasing the land tenure wasn’t done, but we just have to make deals for the rest of 147 locations. PLTA Genyem would be operated on next August,” Sitorus said.
“It doesn’t mean the process of releasing the land tenure wasn’t done, but we just have to make deals for the rest of 147 locations. PLTA Genyem would be operated on next August,” Sitorus said.
He further said his unit is still difficult to distribute the electricity power from Holtekam to Jayapura at 67 location of the construction of the tower foundation. It’s estimated to operate at the end of 2014.
“But we can find a temporary solution with developing a transmission tower of 20 KV which passing the Holtekam Bay, but it should also construct a transmission tower in Engros and Tobati considering the ship traffic,” he said.
“But we can find a temporary solution with developing a transmission tower of 20 KV which passing the Holtekam Bay, but it should also construct a transmission tower in Engros and Tobati considering the ship traffic,” he said.
Meanwhile the Jayapura Mayor said the government is ready to support the PLN in facilitation mediation with the landowners. “We will sit together with the landowners and PLN representatives to talk about the appropriated compensation, and I will ask the support from the community as those who will get the benefit,” Mano said.(Jubi/Sindung/rom)
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4) SECURITY NOT ONLY RESPONSIBILITY OF POLICE, MILITARY, SECURITY MINISTRY OFFICIAL SAYS
Jayapura , 29/4 ( Jubi ) – All provinces, including Papua, are expected to be able to handle security problems, including communal conflicts , according to the secretary to the Coordinating Ministry for Security Political and Legal Affairs.
“There is a Presidential Decree No. 2 of 2013 concerning handling domestic security issues. It was issued in response to conflicts that are usually caused by regional policies such as the issuance of land permits, mining permits, etc,” said Lt. Gen. ( TNI ) Sulistiono said after opening a meeting on handling security issues.
The event was attended by 12 provinces , Papua , West Papua , Maluku , North Maluku , South Sulawesi , Southeast Sulawesi , North Sulawesi , West Sulawesi , Central Sulawesi , West Nusa Tenggara , East Nusa Tenggara and Gorontalo in Jayapura on Tuesday ( 29/4 ).
Sulistiono said that governors, ministers and the mayors should cooperate with police and security forces to deal with security problems as it is not police or security forces’s responsibility only.
“Resolutions of conflict among citizens can not be handled by police. Police duty is to stop clashes and not to handle the problems,” he said .
“Resolutions of conflict among citizens can not be handled by police. Police duty is to stop clashes and not to handle the problems,” he said .
The regional heads should be responsible for all issues in their areas and the government must provide the comfort and welfare for its people.
“If there is a conflict, citizens always blame the security forces. That’s wrong as the root of the problem is not triggered by the police but it is likely due to local policies. The local government must resolve them. The police simply restore security when there is a conflict, “ he said.
“If there is a conflict, citizens always blame the security forces. That’s wrong as the root of the problem is not triggered by the police but it is likely due to local policies. The local government must resolve them. The police simply restore security when there is a conflict, “ he said.
Papua Police spokesman Senior Commissioner Sulistyo Pudjo Hartono said, with the Presidential Directive , the police will work better systematically and simultaneously with other agencies.
“We need to work hand to hand in handling the conflict. The more important is a matter of budgeting. It is local government responsibility to fund and deal with various problems in Papua, according to Presidential decree, ” Hartono explained .(Jubi/Indrayadi TH/Tina
“We need to work hand to hand in handling the conflict. The more important is a matter of budgeting. It is local government responsibility to fund and deal with various problems in Papua, according to Presidential decree, ” Hartono explained .(Jubi/Indrayadi TH/Tina
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5) POLICE URGED TO ENFORCE LAW IN DEALING WITH MIMIKA CONFLICT
Timika , 29/4 ( Jubi ) – A community leader from Amungme, Andreas Anggaibak, urged Mimika police to immediately arrest the warlords from two rival groups involved in violence in Timika.
“I call on both groups … together with traditional leaders and religious leaders to deal to sit together to prevent another conflict in the future ” he said in Timika on Tuesday ( 29/4 ).
“The ongoing tribal war has happened because there’s no law enforcement, ” he said .
The local government needs to coordinate and handle the matter with the military seriously, he added.
He also said the government in Mimika has failed to cooperate with the police to find a solution to the problem.
“There are many forces both from the military and the police but this conflict seems to be ignored. All stakeholders should find the right solution and mete out sanctions on this matter, ” he stated.
“There are many forces both from the military and the police but this conflict seems to be ignored. All stakeholders should find the right solution and mete out sanctions on this matter, ” he stated.
Some people are traumatized and constantly on edge because of the conflict when they are outside their homes.
“When even someone who was in the house got shot, what about someone who is outside?” Petronella, a housewife said in Timika on Tuesday ( 29/4 ).(Jubi/Eveerth/Tina)
“When even someone who was in the house got shot, what about someone who is outside?” Petronella, a housewife said in Timika on Tuesday ( 29/4 ).(Jubi/Eveerth/Tina)
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6) Rise of China dampens local squabbles between Australia and Indonesia
April 29, 2014
China's naval push is forcing Canberra and Jakarta to put their prolitical problems aside
John McCarthy was Australia’s ambassador to Indonesia when militia lobbed Molotov cocktails into his embassy in Jakarta, physically assaulted him in Sulawesi and shot at his car as he drove across Dili. “It didn’t actually hit the car,” McCarthy told me, playing down the 1999 shooting encounter, which took place in the midst of bloody pogroms after the independence of East Timor. “It was just a sighting of a fellow taking aim and firing his gun.”
The bullet may not have hit his car but the former ambassador to Jakarta, New Delhi, Tokyo and Washington speaks with authority when he says Australian naval incursions, phone-tapping and related diplomatic furores have sunk the Australia-Indonesia relationship to its lowest point since 1999. Equally, when he says the relationship has the potential to recover quickly - because much bigger strategic imperatives are at play - it's a good time to sit up and take note.
The rise of China and China’s muscle-flexing on its maritime periphery are altering the strategic calculus of all nations across the Asia-Pacific. The force of rising China is acting to push Jakarta and Canberra closer together (and both of them closer to Washington) even as domestic political “irritants” are pulling them apart.
Indonesia has had a vexed relationship with China since new republics were established in both nations within three months of each other, in 1949. While sticking to an ostensible policy of "non-alignment", Sukarno steered Indonesia towards Beijing and his replacement, Suharto, swung hard the other way. Now in the democratic era, with presidential elections due in July, Indonesia’s foreign policy neutrality is under strain again.
Most pointedly, Indonesia’s policy of non-alignment is being challenged by armed Chinese maritime law enforcement vessels contesting the right of Indonesia to detain Chinese fishermen in the Natuna Islands region, which lie north east of Singapore and 2000km south of mainland China. This year, in response, Indonesian leaders have broken with their tradition of public reticence to voice concerns.
In February, one day after a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa warned China against attempting a repeat of the Air Defence Identification Zone which it established last year in the East China Sea, prompting protests from the US, Japan and Australia. “We have firmly told China we will not accept a similar zone if it is adopted in the South China Sea,” said Natalegawa.
The same month the commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), General Moeldoko, returned from visiting Beijing to advise he would increase air, land and maritime forces around Natuna in order to “anticipate possible infiltration as a result of instability in the South China Sea”.
And last month a senior defence strategist, Commodore Fahru Zaini, warned against China’s "map warfare", as others have called it, by which China is hardening previously amorphous claims to a vast expanse of the South China Sea. "China has claimed Natuna waters as their territorial waters,” he said. “This dispute will have a large impact on the security of Natuna waters.”
This series of public comments shows that Indonesia has altered its public stance if not its underlying strategy. “I would characterise this as the public expression of undeclared policy on China,” says Greta Nabbs-Keller, who wrote her PhD thesis on Indonesia-China strategic relations and is director of a consultancy called Dragonminster.
China has been put on notice that the harder it pushes its territorial claims the more Indonesia will stretch its famously malleable policy of non-alignment in the opposite direction. "I explained that we are a sovereign country, we will protect our territory, and we will do whatever is necessary to protect our sovereignty,” Commander Moeldoko said this month, recounting his earlier exchanges in Beijing.
Like Australia, Indonesia’s policy is to engage with China wherever and whenever it can, including welcoming Chinese investment, while strengthening regional ties and pushing back when China’s demands are deemed unacceptable. It’s a hedging policy that will wax and wane with China’s actions, especially around the Natuna Islands.
Last week 20 Asia-Pacific nations including China, the US and Indonesia signed a code of conduct to improve communication to prevent naval encounters accidentally erupting into conflict. The code was proposed a decade ago, by Australia.
Former ambassador McCarthy says this is the kind of constructive response to evolving strategic imperatives that should force Jakarta and Canberra to transcend the domestic issues that regularly flare between them.
“You could argue that we could have a reversion in our relationship with Indonesia to the sort of pattern that was extant in the 1960s and 1970s,” says McCarthy, referring to an era when global and regional strategic concerns trumped local political ones. “I think you could see a reversion to this as tensions increase in the East China Sea and South China Sea," he says. “We have to concentrate on serious issues which reflect national interest rather than play games, with the Australian side showing how tough we are and the Indonesian side allowing national sensitivities to weigh too heavily."
John Garnaut is Fairfax's Asia-Pacific editor.
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7) Australia-Indonesia relations: Abbott's chance to meet with SBY
28 April 2014 9:33AM
Australian and Indonesian media were positive on Friday that tensions between the two countries could thaw under the Bali sun at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Asia-Pacific Regional Conference due to be held on the Indonesian island early next month.
The Jakarta Post reported that a conference organiser had confirmed Prime Minister Tony Abbott's attendence at the meeting, where he would have an opportunity for a sidelines talk with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Fairfax saw Australia's invitation to the conference as an 'olive branch' extended by SBY himself. It would be the first top-level meeting between the two countries since diplomatic ties were severed over the spying row last November.
The aim of the OGP is to facilitate cooperation between governments and civil society and promote 'open, accountable and responsive' governance.
However, the Australian newspaper's Freedom of Information editor, Sean Parnell, has reported that not only is Abbott unlikely to join the conference in Bali, he is also unlikely to want his government to join the partnership. According to Parnell's sources, Australia's commitment to the OGP is under review (a letter on the partnership's website dated May 2013, when Julia Gillard was prime minister, expressed the Australian Government's intentions to join the OGP), and any Australian presence at the Bali conference is likely to be by a mid-level observer from the Finance Ministry. An update on Saturday reported that this had been upgraded to a ministerial representative.
The code of conduct for Australia-Indonesia relations would first need to be finalised before a meeting could take place between Abbott and Yudhoyono. Foreign Ministers Julie Bishop and Marty Natalegawa are still negotiating such an agreement, requested by Indonesia in the wake of the spying scandal. The protracted freeze in diplomatic relations has centred on concerns over Australia's spying activities and its boat turn-back policy, both of which have raised issues over how 'open, accountable and responsive' the Australian Government really is, with its neighbours and with its own citizens.
It would be a welcome development for Abbott to meet with Yudhoyono in Bali next month and begin the process of rebuilding relations between the two countries. If the meeting doesn't take place, relations will remain as they are, meaning that Australia will have to wait to meet with Indonesia's new president later this year.
Photo courtesy of @TonyAbbottMHR.
