2) Government should pay more attention addressing HIV-AIDS in Papua
3) The secret deal to destroy paradise
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1) Why special autonomy cannot bring improvement to Papuans and why it cannot overcome separatism?
Published 10 hours ago on 28 November 2018 By pr9c6tr3_juben
The Special Autonomy Law that implied to the implementation of the autonomy funds from the Government of Indonesia to Papua Province (yet it shared with West Papua Province that established in 2007) has been 17 years on 21 November 2018. However, many people claimed that some goals have not yet achieved during this period.
DR Agus Sumule, a team member who drafted the Special Autonomy Law, said overall it’s still under the expectation, though this law was stipulated for two reasons, namely to improve the welfare of people and to be against separatism.
“The improvement of people’s welfare can be measured using the modest method, and that also applies throughout the world, such as the Human Development Index (HDI). Meanwhile, the HDI in both provinces of Papua and West Papua is still the lowest. Although there are some efforts to scale up the HDI and the leap was considerably big, but it’s not big enough if compared to other provinces. The existing method is not effective enough. Therefore, it needs another breakthrough,” Sumule told Jubi by phone on Thursday, 22 November 2018.
“On the other hand, the Special Autonomy has been given with the expectation that the separatist movement will fade away. Therefore the Special Autonomy Law also includes some aspects such as the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and so on. Because it doesn’t work, so who knows that the threat has gone.”
Apart from claims of progress in many sectors, continued Sumule who’s also the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Papua, Manokwari, West Papua Province, until now the autonomy policy still cannot overcome the problems of both provinces.
Education must start from villages
One of the main objectives of the Special Autonomy fund for Papua is to increase the human resources through education. Although some efforts made in increasing Papuan human resources have shown some results, these do not provide both provinces with better condition.
Then Sumule took an example that currently, the number of students in Papua and West Papua is approximately 800 thousand, which half (400,000) is indigenous Papuans. Of that number, more than 200 thousand are at the elementary school. However later, more than half do not continue their study to junior high school.
Furthermore, He said it needs a breakthrough in education, for example, improving primary education. “Many say that we need to construct a dormitory. How could it be? How can we build a dormitory for 800 thousand people? That’s impossible.”
To solve this problem, he suggested that villages should become a target for education rather than cities by providing schools from the lower to higher levels.
No stipulation for a 25-year period
In regards stipulation, Agus Sumule also corrected people’s assumption that the Law No. 21 of 2001 about the Special Autonomy for Papua will terminate after 25 years running. He said it’s not true. This arrangement only applied for the provision of (autonomy) funds, while the regulation will still there though there is no guarantee that it would stand onwards (though it can be changed if necessary). However, there is no article in the law stating that this regulation only valid for 25 years.
“What would be ended (25 years) is related to finance,” said Sumule.
If the Special Autonomy Fund discontinued, it must ensure that the availability of funds to continue development. However, if it continues, we should consider its distribution due to nowadays many indigenous Papuans have become a minority in many regions of Papua and West Papua provinces. If there is no change in the allocation of funds, the beneficiaries who might receive compensation (and benefits) must be not indigenous Papuans.
He also maintained if the central government is willing to continue the provision of the special autonomy funds, how can they assure that the funds do not become ‘sugar’ that attracts more migrants to Papua. “That’s the question. Surely this is a big problem,” he said.
Papua’s Special Autonomy leaves assignments
Separately, Chairman of the Papuan House of Representative Yunus Wonda said the implementation of Special Autonomy in Papua still gives uncompleted assignments to do.
According to him, there are a few of policies covered in the articles of the Special Autonomy Law have not implemented yet, such as the recognition of local political party, the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commision and the human rights court as well.
“The appointment of 14 representatives of indigenous Papuans in the Papuan House of Representatives has done, but not other things. Until now the central government has not seriously resolved many cases of alleged human rights violations in Papua by establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” said Wonda.
Moreover, he said that the main issue in Papua is the human rights violation because it has a tremendous impact on other issues. Hence, its resolution could bring a sense of justice to both victims and their families. Both the settlement process and resolution of human rights violations have become an international concern, so the Government of Indonesia must take this seriously.
“This is a crucial agenda that needs to address, and we count on the president elected for the next period,” he said.
Meanwhile, Papua Governor Lukas Enembe in the commemoration day of the Special Autonomy Law held in Gedung Olahraga Cenderawasih, Jayapura, Papua on Wednesday (21/11/2018) said during its 17-years journey in Papua, the Special Autonomy Law is still not perfect as expected by many people, due to its weaknesses and limitation. To mention one, he exemplified that Papua never had a proper grand design from the beginning. (*)
Reporter: Arjuna Pademme
Editor : Pipit Maizier
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2) Government should pay more attention addressing HIV-AIDS in Papua
Published 3 hours ago on 29 November 2018
By pr9c6tr3_juben
HIV-AIDS still becomes a ‘scary ghost’ for Papua Province.
A data released by the Ministry of Health in March recorded that within 12 years (2005-2017) the number of people living with AIDS in Papua has reached 19,729. This number is the highest rate among other Indonesian provinces, while the total of AIDS cases in Indonesia is 102.667.
The second highest rate of AIDS occurred in East Java for 18,243, following by Jakarta at 9,215, Central Java at 8,170, Bali at 7,441 and West Java at 6,502. However, the data showed that Papua Province is at the third rank for the number of people living with the HIV (29,083) compared to Jakarta (51,981) and East Java (39,633). Following Papua in the fourth and fifth ranks are West Java and East Java with 28,964 and 22,292 cases respectively.
Given the fact that the number of population in Papua Province is lesser than the provinces of Jakarta, East Java and West Java, it makes Papua becoming the province with the highest case rate of AIDS in Indonesia until December 2017. The case rate is cumulative of the number of people living with, died from AIDS and the total number of HIV-AIDS cases per 1000,000 population.
The case rate for Papua Province is 620,56 which 18,149 people living with AIDS and 1,580 people died from AIDS during 1987-2017, whereas West Papua Province is in the second place; at 216,46 including 1,699 people living with AIDS and 42 died from AIDS.
The updated figure for HIV-AIDS cases per 30 September 2018 in Papua Province is 38,874. It shows that Nabire Regency has the highest HIV-AIDS cases (7,420) and it followed by Jayapura Municipality at 6,189, Jayawijaya Regency at 5,964, Mimika Regency at 5,670 and Jayapura Regency at 2,918.
Most cases occurred in Papua are due to sexual intercourse with several partners which reach 14,148 (HIV) and 23,610 (AIDS), whereas another factor is the Most cases or risk factors occurred in Papua due to sexual intercourse with several partners are 14,148 (HIV) and 23,610 (AIDS). Another factor is the transmission from mother to child that reaches 212 for HIV and 473 for AIDS.
Responding to this situation, the Chairman of AIDS Commission (KPA) of Papua Province Constant Karma told Jubi on Wednesday, 22 November 2018, that firstly people must fully understand about the transmission of HIV.
He said HIV is transmitted through blood, semen, vaginal fluids if we have direct contact with wounds on the skin or open mucous membranes of people who already infected, such as mouth, nose, vagina, rectum and penis’ external urethral.
“HIV can also be transmitted through vaginal, oral and anal sex, as well as contact with blood and other body fluids. But kissing can be safe if both partners have no sore or mouth sprue. Touching, hugging and normal interacting with people infected with HIV are also safe,” he said.
He recommends people to have safe sex by using a condom and avoiding touching blood or other people’s body fluids.
“We never know who has HIV, because there is no stereotype and perhaps people don’t realise that they are already infected. So avoid to have direct contact with blood and body fluids of other people because it might have risks for HIV transmission, especially if we have open sores on any part of our body,” he said.
Karma said that the high rate of HIV-AIDS in Papua was due to people are still reluctant to conduct examinations.
“This figure indicates that the rate of people who already entered the stage of AIDS. It becomes a problem because if they get at this stage, it will be difficult to recover their condition,” he said.
Karma also said that KPA still difficulties related to funds to reduce the number of people living with HIV-AIDS in Papua. “In the past, we have collaborated with some international NGOs but not anymore because Indonesia currently regarded as a developed country. Therefore these NGOs are paying more attention to other developing countries,” he said.
Moreover, he said KPA Papua’s funds are insufficient to cover all areas of Papua, especially the mountain areas.
AIDS prevalence has reduced since 2014
Head of the Technical Implementation Unit for AIDS, TB and Malaria, Papua Health Office, dr. Beery Wopari, said that since 2014 HIV and AIDS cases in Papua had decreased, although not too significant.
“In 2014 there were 4,452 new cases found in 29 regencies and municipality, but until 2018 there were 1,993 new cases detected or found,” he said. It means that most people are willing to conduct health examinations or do early detection of the disease, explained Wopari.
“Although it is undeniable that many people are still reluctant to conduct medical checks,” he said.
Wopari hopes that the elimination process carried out by Nabire Regency which has the highest HIV-AIDS rate can be emulated by other districts in Papua Province. Nabire District Health Office has carried out medical checks for people who come for treatment at the community centres.
“The number of people living with HIV and AIDS in Nabire is currently growing. There is a regulation that requires all community centres in Nabire to carry out the preliminary tests to all patients who come for treatment to reduce it. “It is good so that we can treat people who have been infected with HIV before the patient enters the stage of AIDS,” he said. (*)
Reporter: Roy Ratumakin
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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(Note. lots of photos/maps etc in report)
3) The secret deal to destroy paradise
The story behind the single biggest threat to the rainforests of Indonesia.
BY MALAYSIAKINI, MONGABAY, TEMPO, THE GECKO PROJECT ON 28 NOVEMBER 2018
Mongabay Series: Indonesia for Sale, Indonesian Forests, Indonesian Palm Oil
- The secret deal to destroy paradise” is the third installment of Indonesia for Sale, an in-depth series on the opaque deals underpinning Indonesia’s deforestation and land-rights crisis.
- The series is the product of 22 months of investigative reporting across the Southeast Asian country, interviewing fixers, middlemen, lawyers and companies involved in land deals, and those most affected by them.
- “The secret deal to destroy paradise” is based on a cross-border collaboration between Tempo, Malaysiakini, Mongabay and Earthsight’s The Gecko Project.
- ……………...
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