2) Police, TNI on Manhunt for Armed Group in Papua
3) DPRP and MRP urged Komnas HAM to investigate Nduga’s case
4) OPINION Papua: Dialogue has different meanings
5) TNI gives Papua Liberation Army ultimatum to surrender
6) Consistency in basic rights
7) Year ender - New era for W Papua in rail transportation
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1) Armed Papuan rebels who killed workers should be crushed: Politician
Reporter: antara 9 hours ago
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian security personnel should crush the armed Papuan rebels who had brutally killed 31 construction workers of the Trans-Papua Road project, and find the four missing workers, a politician said.
"This shooting case must be a lesson for all related institutions, including the National Police, Military, and National Intelligence Agency (BIN)," Deputy Chairman of the Great Indonesian Movement (Gerindra) Party, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, said on Monday.
According to Ahmad, as revealed in his press statement made available to ANTARA here, the slaying of 31 Indonesian citizens is not a simple case. It needs to be handled comprehensively, but the priority should be given to the four missing workers.
No one can point fingers at a certain institution. Instead, the priority should be to find the four ill-fated workers whose whereabouts remain unknown, as the state should be able to protect each of its citizens, he remarked.
Capturing the perpetrators who killed the workers in Nduga District, Papua Province, on Dec 2, should also be conducted immediately to prevent them from repeating their acts of crime, he revealed.
In making this collaborative effort a success, all related institutions must be able to work in synergy by using all networks, resources, and technological capability.
The people, at large, have been awaiting the state`s tough actions against the armed Papuan rebels, he added.
According to Lt Col Dax Sianturi, the spokesman of XVII/Cendrawasih regional military command, as of last Friday, the Indonesian military and police personnel have found 16 corpses of workers in the sub-districts of Yigi and Mbua, Nduga District.
The security personnel continued to update information on the victims, including the workers of PT Istaka Karya. On the day of the shootings, 28 workers of PT Istaka Karya were on the ground, he noted.
Seven of them survived the brutal killings. Nine others were confirmed dead, while seven workers, who also died, could not as yet be identified. Five other workers were still missing, he noted.
The armed rebels also killed a soldier named Handoko and injured two other security personnel Sugeng and Wahyu, he added.
Reporting by Imam Budilaksono
Editing by Rahmad Nasution, Yoseph Hariyadi
"This shooting case must be a lesson for all related institutions, including the National Police, Military, and National Intelligence Agency (BIN)," Deputy Chairman of the Great Indonesian Movement (Gerindra) Party, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, said on Monday.
According to Ahmad, as revealed in his press statement made available to ANTARA here, the slaying of 31 Indonesian citizens is not a simple case. It needs to be handled comprehensively, but the priority should be given to the four missing workers.
No one can point fingers at a certain institution. Instead, the priority should be to find the four ill-fated workers whose whereabouts remain unknown, as the state should be able to protect each of its citizens, he remarked.
Capturing the perpetrators who killed the workers in Nduga District, Papua Province, on Dec 2, should also be conducted immediately to prevent them from repeating their acts of crime, he revealed.
In making this collaborative effort a success, all related institutions must be able to work in synergy by using all networks, resources, and technological capability.
The people, at large, have been awaiting the state`s tough actions against the armed Papuan rebels, he added.
According to Lt Col Dax Sianturi, the spokesman of XVII/Cendrawasih regional military command, as of last Friday, the Indonesian military and police personnel have found 16 corpses of workers in the sub-districts of Yigi and Mbua, Nduga District.
The security personnel continued to update information on the victims, including the workers of PT Istaka Karya. On the day of the shootings, 28 workers of PT Istaka Karya were on the ground, he noted.
Seven of them survived the brutal killings. Nine others were confirmed dead, while seven workers, who also died, could not as yet be identified. Five other workers were still missing, he noted.
The armed rebels also killed a soldier named Handoko and injured two other security personnel Sugeng and Wahyu, he added.
Reporting by Imam Budilaksono
Editing by Rahmad Nasution, Yoseph Hariyadi
------------------------------------------------
2) Police, TNI on Manhunt for Armed Group in Papua
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Papua Regional Police and the XVII/Cenderawasih Regional Military Command are still chasing down the armed group in Nduga District, Papua. The armed men are suspected to have attacked dozens of construction workers of PT Istaka Karya on Sunday, December 2.
"We have established a team to hunt down the culprits. We the Papua Police will not cease this pursuit until we arrest and prosecute them by law," Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Martuani Sormin told Antara, Tuesday, December 11.
Martuani said the TNI would give full support to the police in order to arrest, process and hand-over the armed group members—led by Egianus Kogoya—to the justice system.
Sebby Sembom, spokesman for the West Papua National Liberation Army, confirmed that the group was responsible for the attack. They claim that the attack was their way of protesting the construction of the Trans Papua road, and they want Papuan independence.
Martuani said the group is likely to have military standard firearms stolen from the army and the police, as well as smuggled from abroad. Sometime ago in Sorong, West Papua, the police revealed cases of firearms smuggling to Papua from Mindanao, the Philippines.
Regarding the pursuit, Martuani said the joint team faced considerable obstacles from the difficult terrains. "We are pursuing them on an altitude above 10,000 feet; with thin oxygen, steep slopes, unfriendly weather, no telephone signals," he said.
Meanwhile, Commander of the XVII/Cenderawasih Military Command, Maj. Gen. Yosua Pandit Sembiring, asserted that the construction of the Trans Papua road in Nduga Regency will resume immediately.
"The TNI Commander made it very clear that the construction of the Trans Papua road will continue, it will not stop," he said.
ANTARA
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3) DPRP and MRP urged Komnas HAM to investigate Nduga’s case
Published 9 hours ago on 11 December 2018
By pr9c6tr3_juben
Jayapura, Jubi – Yunus Wonda, the heads of the Papuan Representatives Council (DPR Papua) made the calls after security forces allegedly killed four civilians during an anti-insurgency operation last week that followed the slayings of 17 construction workers by separatist rebels.
“We ask the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) to conduct a thorough investigation. They must investigate not only this December incident, but also what happened last July,” Yunus Wonda, chairman of the council, told Jubi on Monday (10/12/2018).
DPR Papua will set up a special committee to conduct an inquiry into what happened, Yunus added.
But now, he said Nduga is still closed for any civilians, included member of DPR Papua.
But now, he said Nduga is still closed for any civilians, included member of DPR Papua.
Separately, Timotius Murib, chairman of the people’s assembly (MRP), said the MRP has formed a committee to investigate the Dec. 2 and 3 attacks by separatist rebels and also reports from church that mentioned 4 civilians dead during the evacuation.
“Because this MRP is a representative body for Papuan Indigenous People, we don’t see the Nduga case as a separate issue, but part of what has happened so far in Papua,” Timotius added.
Meanwhile on Monday, a local youth leader alleged that security forces shot dead four civilians on Dec. 3 and Dec. 5, including at least one clergyman, while troops were trying to retrieve bodies of the workers killed by TPNPB guerrillas in the Mbua, Yall and Yigi districts of Nduga.
“Two [were killed] in Mbua and two in Yigi. One [of those killed] in Mbua is my uncle. His name is Yulianus Tabuni,” Samuel Tabuni, a Papuan youth leader who once ran for office as the regent of Nduga, told Jubi.
Samuel stated his uncle was a member of the church assembly in Mbua, not involved in separatist movement.
He said relatives told him that government forces had pressured several pastors in the area to give them information about the rebels. (*)
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4) OPINION Papua: Dialogue has different meanings
Yangon, Myanmar | Tue, December 11, 2018 | 09:16 am
Bobby Anderson
The massacre of construction workers pioneering a section of the trans-Papua highway in on Dec. 2 in Nduga, a remote area of highland Papua, has put that troubled province back in international headlines. And while the government of Indonesia’s ambitious road-building plan reflects in-part a coherent natural resource extraction policy, the killing of the workers implementing that policy serves to reflect a half-century of government failures when it comes to indigenous Papuans.
With this in mind it’s useful to consider both Indonesian government and separatist initiatives to resolve Papua’s myriad conflicts. Opposing sides cite the need for dialogue — but the definition of “dialogue” has markedly different meanings for each.
Dialogue first emerged as a policy tool in 2008 when the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) created a Papua “policy road map” for the consideration of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono government. The roadmap grouped the causes of Papua’s conflicts under four categories: first, marginalization of and discrimination against indigenous Papuans; second, the failure of equitable development; third, contending accounts of the history of Papua’s incorporation into Indonesia; and fourth, state violence against Papuans.
LIPI then proposed a four-pronged policy platform: first, recognition of Papuans as the traditional owners of their land; second, a new paradigm of development focusing on Papuans; third, dialogue in order to reach agreement on a shared history; and fourth, reconciliation through justice for the victims of past abuses.
While much of the roadmap is, for now, undeservedly and dangerously shelved, the dialogue it has recommended is not. It has become a scale upon which extreme positions are now marked.
The Indonesian government’s version of dialogue focuses on the less-political aspects of government involvement in Papua. The administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stated an intention to partly follow the roadmap recommendations, but the need to address human rights cases was soon deprioritized in favor of dialogue around service delivery, mainly health and education.
Such a platform would likely lead to discussions beyond service delivery, and so the need for such a dialogue is there, but there is little appetite amongst elements of Papuan civil society for such discussions when government agents have and do kill Papuans with impunity.
This leads to the separatist definition of dialogue, best found in the position of Benny Wenda and the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP). There, a dialogue is solely about Indonesia’s unlawful incorporation of Papua into Indonesia through the staged “Act of Free Choice” in 1969, as well as the multitude of rights abuses which preceded and followed that act. This dialogue would take the shape of an international tribunal, in English, and would then lead to a referendum on independence.
Needless to say, a considerable gap exists between the two positions. Whether the gulf can be bridged in a manner acceptable to Papuan civil society and communities on one hand and the government of Indonesia on the other remains to be seen.
When it comes to dialogue, if Jakarta wishes to be taken seriously by its own citizens, Papuan citizens in particular, then human rights must be on the agenda of any future discussion. This is particularly poignant given that we have just passed the fourth anniversary of the Enarotali massacre, when security forces shot dead four Papuan teenagers and wounded at least 17 others on Dec. 8, 2014.
Jokowi himself promised justice for those victims but four years on none is forthcoming. The injustices of ruinous health and education systems are important, but not as important as an end to impunity. The government has the option to not discuss such human rights violations in a Papua dialogue only so long as it solves those cases outside of a dialogue.
The ULMWP’s position is as utopian as it is untenable. It is implicitly ahistorical in that it approaches the history of Papua’s illegal incorporation into Indonesia as somehow unique in the annals of a historically amoral world state system. It is not: Papua’s incorporation into the Indonesian state is another example of those on the margins contesting the sovereignty of exploitative states they felt and feel no part of. What sets Papua apart is that this incorporation is relatively recent, and that demands for independence are kept in the public eye by a media-savvy diaspora.
Until recently this diaspora was most distinguished by the rivalries within it. That has changed with the emergence of the ULMWP — a united front so far unique amongst Papuan independence advocates, although if history is a guide, it won’t last. The ULMWP, and its Papuan “wing”, the National Committee for West Papua, are popular precisely because they are uncompromising in their pursuit of a referendum.
But a lack of compromise is the privilege of a diaspora; ultimately, if the ULMWP wishes to maintain relevance, then it must both engage with the government of Indonesia and be pragmatic in its demands. The Indonesian government, for its part, needs to begin its own off-the-record discussions with ULMWP members.
There is also more than one Papuan “seat” at this table. Papuan civil society and church representatives still in Papua better understand the parameters constraining utopian demands. Along with the ULMWP, the government must more proactively engage Papuan notables such as Neles Tebay, Benny Giay, Socrates Yeoman, Dorman Wandikbo and others in a dialogue that it will find uncomfortable: one with little room for a referendum but does have room for rights.
Dialogue, for its part, must lead to policy changes. Ideally, it might lead to a broad-based renegotiation of a more equitable special autonomy package for Papua which might resemble Agus Sumule’s “Otsus Plus” (special autonomy plus) draft, which addressed migration, land rights and other issues palpable to the everyday lives of Papuans. Informed sources are already working with local stakeholders in Papua in pursuit of this.
Pragmatism is paramount. As of 2018, unregulated migration into Papua seems to be a policy in itself. If an accurate census is ever taken, it will likely reveal that as much as half of the highland Papuan population only exists in inflated voter lists, and that non-Papuans are a majority. Papua may boil, but it never explodes, and the government has no pressing need to engage in negotiations with separatist elements that don’t pose a threat to the state.
The ULMWP is most relevant to the government of Indonesia through its engagement with other Pacific nations, but Indonesian outreach will further close an already small window of opportunity. The ULMWP’s vision of the future is unrealizable, and it must act with the time it has.
With this in mind it’s useful to consider both Indonesian government and separatist initiatives to resolve Papua’s myriad conflicts. Opposing sides cite the need for dialogue — but the definition of “dialogue” has markedly different meanings for each.
Dialogue first emerged as a policy tool in 2008 when the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) created a Papua “policy road map” for the consideration of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono government. The roadmap grouped the causes of Papua’s conflicts under four categories: first, marginalization of and discrimination against indigenous Papuans; second, the failure of equitable development; third, contending accounts of the history of Papua’s incorporation into Indonesia; and fourth, state violence against Papuans.
LIPI then proposed a four-pronged policy platform: first, recognition of Papuans as the traditional owners of their land; second, a new paradigm of development focusing on Papuans; third, dialogue in order to reach agreement on a shared history; and fourth, reconciliation through justice for the victims of past abuses.
While much of the roadmap is, for now, undeservedly and dangerously shelved, the dialogue it has recommended is not. It has become a scale upon which extreme positions are now marked.
The Indonesian government’s version of dialogue focuses on the less-political aspects of government involvement in Papua. The administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stated an intention to partly follow the roadmap recommendations, but the need to address human rights cases was soon deprioritized in favor of dialogue around service delivery, mainly health and education.
Such a platform would likely lead to discussions beyond service delivery, and so the need for such a dialogue is there, but there is little appetite amongst elements of Papuan civil society for such discussions when government agents have and do kill Papuans with impunity.
This leads to the separatist definition of dialogue, best found in the position of Benny Wenda and the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP). There, a dialogue is solely about Indonesia’s unlawful incorporation of Papua into Indonesia through the staged “Act of Free Choice” in 1969, as well as the multitude of rights abuses which preceded and followed that act. This dialogue would take the shape of an international tribunal, in English, and would then lead to a referendum on independence.
Needless to say, a considerable gap exists between the two positions. Whether the gulf can be bridged in a manner acceptable to Papuan civil society and communities on one hand and the government of Indonesia on the other remains to be seen.
When it comes to dialogue, if Jakarta wishes to be taken seriously by its own citizens, Papuan citizens in particular, then human rights must be on the agenda of any future discussion. This is particularly poignant given that we have just passed the fourth anniversary of the Enarotali massacre, when security forces shot dead four Papuan teenagers and wounded at least 17 others on Dec. 8, 2014.
Jokowi himself promised justice for those victims but four years on none is forthcoming. The injustices of ruinous health and education systems are important, but not as important as an end to impunity. The government has the option to not discuss such human rights violations in a Papua dialogue only so long as it solves those cases outside of a dialogue.
The ULMWP’s position is as utopian as it is untenable. It is implicitly ahistorical in that it approaches the history of Papua’s illegal incorporation into Indonesia as somehow unique in the annals of a historically amoral world state system. It is not: Papua’s incorporation into the Indonesian state is another example of those on the margins contesting the sovereignty of exploitative states they felt and feel no part of. What sets Papua apart is that this incorporation is relatively recent, and that demands for independence are kept in the public eye by a media-savvy diaspora.
Until recently this diaspora was most distinguished by the rivalries within it. That has changed with the emergence of the ULMWP — a united front so far unique amongst Papuan independence advocates, although if history is a guide, it won’t last. The ULMWP, and its Papuan “wing”, the National Committee for West Papua, are popular precisely because they are uncompromising in their pursuit of a referendum.
But a lack of compromise is the privilege of a diaspora; ultimately, if the ULMWP wishes to maintain relevance, then it must both engage with the government of Indonesia and be pragmatic in its demands. The Indonesian government, for its part, needs to begin its own off-the-record discussions with ULMWP members.
There is also more than one Papuan “seat” at this table. Papuan civil society and church representatives still in Papua better understand the parameters constraining utopian demands. Along with the ULMWP, the government must more proactively engage Papuan notables such as Neles Tebay, Benny Giay, Socrates Yeoman, Dorman Wandikbo and others in a dialogue that it will find uncomfortable: one with little room for a referendum but does have room for rights.
Dialogue, for its part, must lead to policy changes. Ideally, it might lead to a broad-based renegotiation of a more equitable special autonomy package for Papua which might resemble Agus Sumule’s “Otsus Plus” (special autonomy plus) draft, which addressed migration, land rights and other issues palpable to the everyday lives of Papuans. Informed sources are already working with local stakeholders in Papua in pursuit of this.
Pragmatism is paramount. As of 2018, unregulated migration into Papua seems to be a policy in itself. If an accurate census is ever taken, it will likely reveal that as much as half of the highland Papuan population only exists in inflated voter lists, and that non-Papuans are a majority. Papua may boil, but it never explodes, and the government has no pressing need to engage in negotiations with separatist elements that don’t pose a threat to the state.
The ULMWP is most relevant to the government of Indonesia through its engagement with other Pacific nations, but Indonesian outreach will further close an already small window of opportunity. The ULMWP’s vision of the future is unrealizable, and it must act with the time it has.
***
The writer is a Myanmar-based research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He authored Papua’s Insecurity: State Failure in the Indonesian Periphery, East-West Center Policy Studies, 2015.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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5) TNI gives Papua Liberation Army ultimatum to surrender
10:18 am today
Indonesia's military (TNI) has given an ultimatum to the West Papua Liberation Army to surrender.
The Liberation Army claimed responsibility for killing up to 31 Indonesians, mainly road construction workers, this month in the Highlands of Papua province.
TNI and police have retrieved 16 bodies from Nduga regency, having deployed a major joint operation there in response to the massacre.
A TNI spokesperson Mohammed Aidi said that the Liberation Army should immediately surrender or be finished.
Colonel Aidi has denied media reports that the military is using aerial bombing against Papuan communities in the Liberation Army's stronghold area.
He said at present the joint forces have captured and occupied Nduga's Yigi and Mbua districts, and that villagers who fled from fighting to the bush are starting to return.
The TNI's response to the massacre has reportedly caused four fatalities among civilians, according to local media.
However, Colonel Aidi said that given the area where casualties were reported, it was unlikely they were pure civilians but rather those linked to the perpetrators of the massacre.
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6) Consistency in basic rights
Editorial Board The Jakarta Post
Jakarta | Tue, December 11, 2018 | 08:50 am
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights turned 70 years old on Monday, a relatively young age for a crucial global document. It was adopted in Paris at the United Nations’ General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948, after the world witnessed the destruction of two world wars. In the past weeks, riots in France’s capital and other cities, initially against a higher diesel tax, suggest that even advanced nations struggle to keep their citizens content.
This is why a fundamental agreement on what constitutes human rights is critical. Barely 20 years ago, Indonesia’s amendments of the 1945 Constitution finally incorporated universal basic rights.
But to claim on Human Rights Day that our country has seen so much abuse and tolerates the neglect of human rights because we only just recently adopted them is irresponsible; it is also a weak excuse.
The struggle for every Indonesian’s rights since 1998 shows people have a better understanding of what human rights are — particularly when theirs are being trampled on.
Therefore, after including universal rights in our Constitution, we are still in the phase of upholding them consistently for all citizens. Any form of neglect reflects the lack of exposure and the lack of victims’ ability to speak up — apart from attempts to cover up rights abuses.
Saturday’s long march under black umbrellas in Jakarta is a case in point. It was a demonstration demanding the passing of a bill against sexual violence, with advocates arguing that the Criminal Code fails to address the wide range of sexual crimes.
Many might wonder about all the fuss until an acquaintance or relative encounters harassment. The perpetrator usually gets off lightly for indecent behavior — and that is if the victim was able to speak up and see the case through court despite threats, as this is too often the case.
Some critics question the potential criminalization of husbands, saying it would be against their religion to recognize rape in marriage. But the Indonesian Congress of Women Ulema issued in 2017 a clear fatwa on this, declaring that all forms of sexual violence is haram — inside and outside marriage.
Another challenge in consistently upholding the universal rights of all Indonesian lies in the case of Papua. While we recognize the freedom of conscience, this often stops each year on Dec. 1 when Papuans rally to commemorate a different version of their independence than that understood by most Indonesians.
Similar to the earlier cases of Aceh and Timor Leste (formerly East Timor), any voice for independence is greeted harshly as an act of subversion without asking why anyone would want to separate from the Republic, even amid earlier reports of harassment and discrimination against Papuans and despite the 2001 Papua Special Autonomy Law, which was deemed a breakthrough.
Freedom of worship is another difficult lesson in consistency. It’s among the prickliest issues ahead of each election, which means continued misery for minorities.
We just hosted the Bali Democracy Forum for the 11th time, with the proposal for an “inclusive democracy”. At least this should mean ending inconsistencies on our own citizens’ rights.
This is why a fundamental agreement on what constitutes human rights is critical. Barely 20 years ago, Indonesia’s amendments of the 1945 Constitution finally incorporated universal basic rights.
But to claim on Human Rights Day that our country has seen so much abuse and tolerates the neglect of human rights because we only just recently adopted them is irresponsible; it is also a weak excuse.
The struggle for every Indonesian’s rights since 1998 shows people have a better understanding of what human rights are — particularly when theirs are being trampled on.
Therefore, after including universal rights in our Constitution, we are still in the phase of upholding them consistently for all citizens. Any form of neglect reflects the lack of exposure and the lack of victims’ ability to speak up — apart from attempts to cover up rights abuses.
Saturday’s long march under black umbrellas in Jakarta is a case in point. It was a demonstration demanding the passing of a bill against sexual violence, with advocates arguing that the Criminal Code fails to address the wide range of sexual crimes.
Many might wonder about all the fuss until an acquaintance or relative encounters harassment. The perpetrator usually gets off lightly for indecent behavior — and that is if the victim was able to speak up and see the case through court despite threats, as this is too often the case.
Some critics question the potential criminalization of husbands, saying it would be against their religion to recognize rape in marriage. But the Indonesian Congress of Women Ulema issued in 2017 a clear fatwa on this, declaring that all forms of sexual violence is haram — inside and outside marriage.
Another challenge in consistently upholding the universal rights of all Indonesian lies in the case of Papua. While we recognize the freedom of conscience, this often stops each year on Dec. 1 when Papuans rally to commemorate a different version of their independence than that understood by most Indonesians.
Similar to the earlier cases of Aceh and Timor Leste (formerly East Timor), any voice for independence is greeted harshly as an act of subversion without asking why anyone would want to separate from the Republic, even amid earlier reports of harassment and discrimination against Papuans and despite the 2001 Papua Special Autonomy Law, which was deemed a breakthrough.
Freedom of worship is another difficult lesson in consistency. It’s among the prickliest issues ahead of each election, which means continued misery for minorities.
We just hosted the Bali Democracy Forum for the 11th time, with the proposal for an “inclusive democracy”. At least this should mean ending inconsistencies on our own citizens’ rights.
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7) Year ender - New era for W Papua in rail transportation
Reporter: Otniel Tamindael 7 hours ago
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The year 2019 is expected to be a new era for the Indonesian province of West Papua in terms of railway project, after years of experiencing difficult transportation problems.
The commencement of railway projects in West Papua in 2019 will increase the length of the railway line and will be a new era in railway transportation history since the first railway lines in Indonesia were constructed during the Dutch colonial rule.
History recorded that on June 7, 1864, governor general Baron Sloet van den Beele initiated the first railway line in Indonesia on Kemijen village in Semarang, Central Java.
It began operations on Aug 10, 1867, in Central Java, connecting the first built Semarang station to Tanggung for 25 kilometers.
By May 21, 1873, the line was connected to Solo, in Central Java, and was later extended to Yogyakarta.
By the 1920s, the system in Java had reached its greatest extent, with most towns and cities connected by rail, with branches and tramways connecting sugar plantations to factories.
And now the railway project will be expanded to areas outside Java and reach remote areas in West Papua Province.
The Central government has asked the regional administration of West Papua to accelerate preparation for the project to build railway track in the province.
The instruction from Jakarta will be on land clearing where the main tracks would be built and would pass through the city of Sorong, Sorong District, South Sorong, Maybrat, Teluk Bintuni, South Manokwari, and Manokwari.
The main track would extend between the city of Sorong and the city of Manokwari.
West Papua Transportation Office Chief Agustinus Kadakolo remarked in Manokwari on Monday that the groundbreaking of the railway project in the province will be carried out in 2019.
According to Kadakolo, the first phase of the construction of the railway line will be carried out around 100 kilometers from Sorong City.
The study on the Analysis of Environmental Impacts (Amdal) already exists, and now the West Papua Transportation Office is just waiting for recommendations from two districts, namely Bintuni Bay and Maybrat.
In the future, the railway line in West Papua will connect all regions in the province, except Raja Ampat Islands District.
Recommendation from the district and city governments in West Papua will become one of the conditions for the development of railway project.
The recommendation generally contains the support of the district and city governments for the implementation of this project, as well the readiness to participate in implementing their respective authority.
"We are waiting for the recommendation. If we receive it, we will immediately convey it to the governor of West Papua, who will submit it to the Ministry of Transportation. If in 2018 all regions submit the recommendations, we will carry out the groundbreaking in 2019," Kadakolo noted.
According to him, the initial construction of the railway project will be carried out through the provincial government budget. Furthermore, the project will be continued by the Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Railways.
It is expected that this program can run smoothly, so that the West Papua Province can have new modes of transportation to accelerate development.
Like the railway program in Sulawesi region that had been started since 2017, the similar project in West Papua will connect strategic places in the province.
The railway lines in West Papua will be integrated with the port, so that it can facilitate the flow of goods distribution and passenger mobility.
In the Sorong region, the railway program will be implemented to support the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) which President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will inaugurate later in 2019.
Originally, the president hoped to break the ground to mark the start of work to build the railway in July 2016 in Sorong, but it was delayed due to problems in land clearing.
Land was available and the Sorong city administration had approved it, but protracted bickering in land price delayed the decision.
While waiting for the agreement in land price negotiations between the city administration and the land owners, the railway directorate general and consultants were working on the details of engineering design (DED) of the whole tracks.
The details of engineering design on the main track were in final phase. The regional administrations, especially the Sorong city, Sorong District, South Sorong, Maybrat, Teluk Bintuni, South Manokwari, and Manokwari city administrations, were asked to prepare land and deal with land clearing.
The Central Government in Jakarta was waiting for report from the Sorong city administration on the progress made in land clearing and groundbreaking plan.
According to data from the Directorate General of Railways of the Ministry of Transportation, the Trans-Papua railway plan consists of Sorong-Manokwari (390 kilometers), Manokwari-Nabire (308 kilometers), Nabire-Timika (272 kilometers), Nabire-Sarmi (375 kilometers), and Sarmi-Jayapura (205 kilometers), which covers a total length of 1,550 kilometers.
The Trans-Papua railway development program includes the development of a new railway network in Papua and West Papua.
The financing details of these railways include Sorong-Manokwari, valued at Rp26,70 trillion; Sarmi-Jayapura, at Rp14,42 trillion; Manokwari-Nabire, valued at Rp23,67 trillion; Nabire-Sarmi, at Rp26,35 trillion; the Nabire-Timika portion, valued at Rp19,83 trillion, with the total pegged at Rp108,3 trillion.
Meanwhile, the first railway priority to build the Sorong-Manokwari track began in late 2017, and it will be completed in 2024; followed by Sarmi-Jayapura, which started in early 2018; Manokwari-Nabire, which will start as early as 2020; the Nabire-Sarmi stretch, which will be completed by the end of 2020; and Nabire-Timika, which will be completed by the end 2020.(*)
Editing by Yoseph Hariyadi
The commencement of railway projects in West Papua in 2019 will increase the length of the railway line and will be a new era in railway transportation history since the first railway lines in Indonesia were constructed during the Dutch colonial rule.
History recorded that on June 7, 1864, governor general Baron Sloet van den Beele initiated the first railway line in Indonesia on Kemijen village in Semarang, Central Java.
It began operations on Aug 10, 1867, in Central Java, connecting the first built Semarang station to Tanggung for 25 kilometers.
By May 21, 1873, the line was connected to Solo, in Central Java, and was later extended to Yogyakarta.
By the 1920s, the system in Java had reached its greatest extent, with most towns and cities connected by rail, with branches and tramways connecting sugar plantations to factories.
And now the railway project will be expanded to areas outside Java and reach remote areas in West Papua Province.
The Central government has asked the regional administration of West Papua to accelerate preparation for the project to build railway track in the province.
The instruction from Jakarta will be on land clearing where the main tracks would be built and would pass through the city of Sorong, Sorong District, South Sorong, Maybrat, Teluk Bintuni, South Manokwari, and Manokwari.
The main track would extend between the city of Sorong and the city of Manokwari.
West Papua Transportation Office Chief Agustinus Kadakolo remarked in Manokwari on Monday that the groundbreaking of the railway project in the province will be carried out in 2019.
According to Kadakolo, the first phase of the construction of the railway line will be carried out around 100 kilometers from Sorong City.
The study on the Analysis of Environmental Impacts (Amdal) already exists, and now the West Papua Transportation Office is just waiting for recommendations from two districts, namely Bintuni Bay and Maybrat.
In the future, the railway line in West Papua will connect all regions in the province, except Raja Ampat Islands District.
Recommendation from the district and city governments in West Papua will become one of the conditions for the development of railway project.
The recommendation generally contains the support of the district and city governments for the implementation of this project, as well the readiness to participate in implementing their respective authority.
"We are waiting for the recommendation. If we receive it, we will immediately convey it to the governor of West Papua, who will submit it to the Ministry of Transportation. If in 2018 all regions submit the recommendations, we will carry out the groundbreaking in 2019," Kadakolo noted.
According to him, the initial construction of the railway project will be carried out through the provincial government budget. Furthermore, the project will be continued by the Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Railways.
It is expected that this program can run smoothly, so that the West Papua Province can have new modes of transportation to accelerate development.
Like the railway program in Sulawesi region that had been started since 2017, the similar project in West Papua will connect strategic places in the province.
The railway lines in West Papua will be integrated with the port, so that it can facilitate the flow of goods distribution and passenger mobility.
In the Sorong region, the railway program will be implemented to support the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) which President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will inaugurate later in 2019.
Originally, the president hoped to break the ground to mark the start of work to build the railway in July 2016 in Sorong, but it was delayed due to problems in land clearing.
Land was available and the Sorong city administration had approved it, but protracted bickering in land price delayed the decision.
While waiting for the agreement in land price negotiations between the city administration and the land owners, the railway directorate general and consultants were working on the details of engineering design (DED) of the whole tracks.
The details of engineering design on the main track were in final phase. The regional administrations, especially the Sorong city, Sorong District, South Sorong, Maybrat, Teluk Bintuni, South Manokwari, and Manokwari city administrations, were asked to prepare land and deal with land clearing.
The Central Government in Jakarta was waiting for report from the Sorong city administration on the progress made in land clearing and groundbreaking plan.
According to data from the Directorate General of Railways of the Ministry of Transportation, the Trans-Papua railway plan consists of Sorong-Manokwari (390 kilometers), Manokwari-Nabire (308 kilometers), Nabire-Timika (272 kilometers), Nabire-Sarmi (375 kilometers), and Sarmi-Jayapura (205 kilometers), which covers a total length of 1,550 kilometers.
The Trans-Papua railway development program includes the development of a new railway network in Papua and West Papua.
The financing details of these railways include Sorong-Manokwari, valued at Rp26,70 trillion; Sarmi-Jayapura, at Rp14,42 trillion; Manokwari-Nabire, valued at Rp23,67 trillion; Nabire-Sarmi, at Rp26,35 trillion; the Nabire-Timika portion, valued at Rp19,83 trillion, with the total pegged at Rp108,3 trillion.
Meanwhile, the first railway priority to build the Sorong-Manokwari track began in late 2017, and it will be completed in 2024; followed by Sarmi-Jayapura, which started in early 2018; Manokwari-Nabire, which will start as early as 2020; the Nabire-Sarmi stretch, which will be completed by the end of 2020; and Nabire-Timika, which will be completed by the end 2020.(*)
Editing by Yoseph Hariyadi
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