1) Indonesian police readies plan for Operation Peace Cartenz in Papua

2) INDIGENOUS PAPUANS URGE GOVT TO INVESTIGATE ILLEGAL MINES IN MANOKWARI

3) LAKE SENTANI WATER LEVEL RISES DUE TO RAIN, JAYAPURA REGENT DECLARES EMERGENCY ALERT

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

https://en.antaranews.com/news/209025/indonesian-police-readies-plan-for-operation-peace-cartenz-in-papua

1) Indonesian police readies plan for Operation Peace Cartenz in Papua  

7 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's National Police is preparing a plan to implement Operation Peace Cartenz that lays emphasis on a prosperity-based approach to maintain peace and stability in Papua Province.

Operation Peace Cartenz would replace Operation Nemangkawi that will end on January 25, 2022, National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ahmad Ramadhan noted in a statement that ANTARA quoted here, Tuesday.

The operational plan is being readied to chalk out ways to take action during Operation Peace Cartenz that differed from those applied during the Operation Nemangkawi, he explained.

The actions under the Operation Peace Cartenz would prioritize persuasive and preemptive efforts by focusing on the functions of intelligence and community development and services, Ramadhan stated.


Related news: Prosperity-based approach to be prioritized in Operation Nemangkawi


Such soft approach-based functions would be combined with supporting functions, comprising prevention, control unit (Sabhara), and law enforcement, he explained.

"Hence, law enforcement is used as a supporting function," he noted, adding that Operation Peace Cartenz would come under the Papua police chief's control.

Operation Nemangkawi was launched in 2019 following the massacre of 31 workers of PT Istaka Karya in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi Sub-district, Nduga District, on December 2, 2018.

Papuan separatist terrorists, believed to be behind the brutal killings of the Trans Papua construction workers, also killed a soldier, identified as Handoko, and injured two other security personnel, Sugeng and Wahyu, according to reports.

Papua has been witness to a repeated cycle of violence, with armed groups in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak targeting civilians and security personnel over the past few years.


Related news: Indonesian military builds six church bell towers in Papua

Intan Jaya recorded its bloodiest month in September, 2020, with armed groups launching a series of attacks in the area that claimed the lives of two soldiers and two civilians and left two others injured.

The acts of terror have continued in 2021. On January 10, 2021, for instance, an Indonesian soldier died in a gunfight in the Titigi area of Intan Jaya District.

On April 25, 2021, Papuan separatists operating in Beoga ambushed State Intelligence Agency (Papua) Chief, I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha, and several security personnel during their visit to Dambet Village.

Nugraha died of gunshot wounds sustained during the attack.


Related news: Police Chief targets 100-percent child vaccination within fortnight

Related news: Use social media wisely, police tells public

Reporter: Laily R, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

—————————————

https://en.jubi.co.id/indigenous-papuans-urge-govt-to-investigate-illegal-mines-in-manokwari/

2) INDIGENOUS PAPUANS URGE GOVT TO INVESTIGATE ILLEGAL MINES IN MANOKWARI

News Desk January 11, 2022 4:27 pm

Manokwari, Jubi – Gold mining activities in Wasirawi Village, Masni District, Manokwari Regency, West Papua are reportedly illegal, or outside the control of the government and related institutions. This activity is suspected to be a massive and systematic practice of plundering natural resources.

Seblon Mandacan, one of the customary land owners where the Wasirawi gold mining site is, revealed several facts related to the allegedly illegal gold mining activities. He said that the community holding customary rights had taken steps to manage the gold potential independently through community cooperatives, but even that was unable to stem the rise of investors and illegal workers coming to the location.

“There is no single institution that monitors and manages mining activities in Wasirawi. There are many ‘entrances’ without going through the government or customary institutions who can control the negative impact of mining activities,” Mandacan told Jubi on Monday, January 10, 2022.

Apart from not being controlled, Mandacan said, Wasirawi’s gold mining activities use hundreds of excavators. “There are more than 100 excavators at the gold mining site in Wasirawi with more than 3,000 workers. So far they are running without any action from the authorities to stop them,” said Mandacan.

Mandacan, who is also the chairman of the Jaya Putra Manted Mandiri Cooperative, a community cooperative which provides transportation services to the Wasirawi mine site, urged the government and cultural institutions to immediately investigate, organize, and control the mines in Wasirawi.

“I myself have a cooperative that provides transportation services to mining sites. But I have seen too much fraud there that we as the owners of ulayat[land] rights feel disadvantaged,” he said.

“The government and cultural institutions of West Papua have the authority, as stipulated in the Special Autonomy Law, to regulate natural resources so that these resources are managed independently through community cooperatives. Don’t let the massive confiscation of our customary lands continue,” he added.

Throughout 2021, the West Papua Police and the law enforcement field (Gakkum) of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in the West Papua region overlooked at the potential for environmental crimes from Wasirawi gold mining activities. Head of the West Papua Police Insp. Gen. Tornagogo Sihombing in a late 2021 release only reported 7 prominent cases but the illegal gold mining activities in the West Papua region was not included. (*)

Reporter: Hans Kapisa
Editor: Edho Sinaga

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

https://en.jubi.co.id/lake-sentani-water-level-rises-due-to-rain-jayapura-regent-declares-emergency-alert/

3) LAKE SENTANI WATER LEVEL RISES DUE TO RAIN, JAYAPURA REGENT DECLARES EMERGENCY ALERT

News Desk January 11, 2022 5:05 pm

Sentani, Jubi – The heavy rains that have hit Papua’s Jayapura Regency for the past few days have not only caused floods in public facilities and residential areas but also rose the water level of Lake Sentani to 70 centimeters from its normal limit.

Due to this matter, Jayapura Regent Mathius Awoitauw has declared an emergency alert status for Jayapura Regency.

Awoitauw admitted he had visited a number of villages on Sunday, January 9, 2022, to ensure that the rise of water level at Lake Sentani did not have a serious impact on the people as it did in March 2019.

“The lake water has increased slightly, we have visited most of the inundated places,” said Awoitauw on Monday. He said he had coordinated a number of stakeholders to anticipate the current situation.

“Some of the villages on the coast of Lake Sentani indeed experience the impact of the increase in water levels but this time around, it is unlike two years ago wherein the water rose to two meters and caused many villagers to evacuate to the mainland,” he added.

According to Awoitauw, intense monitoring of the current conditions were much needed, especially given the unstable weather. “Everything must be anticipated properly so that people do not become victims as they were in the past. Evacuation and aid posts have been built at several points,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the traditional community leader of Yobeh Village, Yafet Felle, said that the local government should pay serious attention to buffer and infiltration areas, or areas that are not supposed to be built but have recently become residential areas.

“We must ensure no residential settlements built on the buffer and infiltration areas. Otherwise, we will only feel the impact every rainy season. It only rained for 30 minutes but Sentani [District] was immediately flooded. This means that there is a place or path for water that has been closed or buried for house construction that the water runoff from high to low places easily flows. As a result, floods occur everywhere,” said Felle. (*)

Reporter: Engelbert Wally
Editor: Kristianto Galuwo

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