2) Vaccine resistance in West Papua as Covid-19 rages
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1) Dangerous Papua Games
After chairing a Cabinet ministers meeting on July 13, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said the 20th National Games (PON) in Papua would go ahead as scheduled from Oct. 2 to 15. The subsequent National Paralympic Games are then to be held from Nov. 2 to 15.
The government postponed the two sporting events last year over COVID-19 concerns – although it didn't seem too concerned when it pushed for regional elections in 270 regions last December.
The President’s decision to allow the PON to go ahead was based on good intentions, such as giving an opportunity and pride to Papuan people to host a national sports event, a luxury that eludes many other regions. But at what cost?
As in 2020, Papua today is still not free of the deadly disease and it may remain that way for the foreseeable future given the province’s poor testing, tracing and treatment capacity and very low vaccination rate. Therefore, we call on the government to once again delay the event until we can flatten the transmission curve of the coronavirus. The PON will only turn into a dangerous game to play.
The President should listen to Mimika Regent Eltinus Omaleng, who plans to send an official letter to the head of state to ask for the PON’s rescheduling because the regency, the mining site of PT Freeport, now is preoccupied with a rising number of COVID-19 cases The local government is also facing shortages of oxygen, medicines and patient beds.
Papua Governor Lukas Enembe has shared the same concerns and will officially request a delay to the Games.
The central government needs to listen to the local leaders, because they know very well the development on the ground. Youth and Sports Minister Zainuddin Amali is among the staunchest proponents of the PON in Papua, saying all sports venues and equipment would be 100 percent ready for the Games next month. Despite the minister’s confidence, however, it will be the Papuan leaders and people who will have to bear the brunt of all consequences if Jakarta insists the show must go on.
Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto and National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo have also pledged their commitment to safety and security of all participants during the PON and Paralympic Games. But how about the threat of the deadly disease?
According to the original plan, the PON will be held in Jayapura city, Jayapura regency, Mimika regency and Merauke regency. The four-yearly event will feature 37 sports and 6,400 athletes plus 3,500 officials from 34 provinces across the country. The Paralympics will be held in Jayapura city and Jayapura regency, featuring 1,935 athletes.
With more than 12,000 people gathering, the risk of the Games becoming a new COVID-19 cluster should not be disregarded, even if the government bans spectators from all sports venues, and all participating athletes and officials are vaccinated before the PON begin.
Papua can host the PON once we can rein in the pandemic. The President should not let unnecessary victims fall simply because he wants to show to the world the development progress in Papua. This is a matter of life in very real terms.
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2) Vaccine resistance in West Papua as Covid-19 rages
8:30 pm on 30 July 2021
Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific Journalist
As with much of Indonesia, the country's eastern-most provinces of Papua and West Papua are struggling to contain the spread of Covid-19, with the Delta variant on the loose.
In their latest update, health authorities in Papua province reported 33,826 confirmed cases of the virus to date, as well as 794 known deaths. In West Papua province, there were 18,027 confirmed cases and 278 deaths.
Earlier this week, the Papua provincial health spokesman Silvanus Sumule spoke to media outside a hospital in downtown Jayapura, explaining that hospital capacity had passed 100 percent, while they're short on oxygen tanks for Covid patients.
Patients were being treated in corridors or outside the building, the sort of desperate scenes being experienced across Indonesia, which has become the latest epicentre of the pandemic in Asia, with over 3.2 million cases and 90-thousand deaths from Covid.
But the health system in Papua is weaker than most other parts of the republic, adding to fears that the virus is on track to cause devastation in indigenous Papuan communities.
A human rights adviser to the Papuan People's Assembly, Wensi Fatubun, said that with the Delta variant rampaging through communities, Papua's provincial government sought a full lockdown for the month of August.
"So the local government announced for the lockdown. But the national government doesn't want Papua province locked down, but use different restrictions on community activities."
With Jakarta having overruled Papua's local government on the matter, the onus goes on how people respond to the restrictions on gatherings as well as safety measures. But adherence to these basic measures has been mixed in Papua during the pandemic.
"We are really worried with Covid-19. If it go to the remote areas, we don't know, maybe many many indigenous Papuans will die, because there's not enough doctors, nurses, and also health facilities," Fatubun said.
Across Jayapura, there's been a spate of burials in recent days - another sign of the surge in Covid-19 cases, which could be significantly higher than official statistics show.
'Many Papuans are dying'
To avert the death rate growing more out of control, the national government of Joko Widodo is focussing on efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible in the coming weeks and months.
So far around 22 percent of the eligible population of 208-million have had at least a first dose of the vaccine, and around 10 percent have had two doses.
The moderator of the Papuan Council of Churches, Reverend Benny Giay said many West Papuans were resisting the vaccine rollout, chiefly because of the role of Indonesian security forces who he said indigenous Papuans often mistrust.
"In the past few months, in several districts, it's the military and police who accompanied medical teams who go promoting the vaccines. But people turn them away. It's very difficult to convince the people," he said.
Given the ongoing violent conflict between Indonesian security forces and West Papuan independence fighters, as well as decades of human rights abuses and racism against Papuans, Reverend Giay said the resistance was understandable.
"The reality here is that they've gone through this crisis and violence, and the government is involving military and police to be part of this and we don't like that."
Reverend Giay wants his people to get vaccinated, and is urging people to not be dissuaded by misinformation propagated on social media. He suggested outside help is required.
"Many Papuans are dying. We've been calling international community for help - maybe International Red Cross, maybe a humanitarian intervention to convince our people (to get vaccinated)."
This proposal is highly unlikely to be accepted by Indonesia's government which has long restricted outside access to Papua.
Jakarta continues with a business-as-usual approach in the remote eastern region, and is sticking to its plans for Papua to host the Indonesia National Games in October which will bring in many people form other parts of the country.
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