2) Indonesia prepares 1 mln hectares for sugar factories in Papua
3) Amnesty slams Prabowo's response to presidential debate question on Papua
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1) The government's decision to extend PT Freeport contract until 2061 has drawn criticism
Audio 08.15 in Bahasa
The Indonesian government has agreed to extend PT Freeport Indonesia's employment contract in Papua for 20 years. In fact, the existing contract will still be valid until 2041. This means that at least PT Freeport will still exist in Papua until 2061.
The government's decision has been criticised by Papuans. Moreover, they feel that they are not involved in the negotiation of the extension of the contract.
Nicodemus Momo, a young politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI P) of Papua, discussed the decision of this government, which he said did not at all value the indigenous people or tribes living around the Papua mines.
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2) Indonesia prepares 1 mln hectares for sugar factories in Papua
Antara | 12 December 2023
Indonesia prepares 1 mln hectares for sugar factories in Papua
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government is preparing one million hectares of land in Papua for investors interested in building sugar factories to help Indonesia achieve sugar self-sufficiency, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said on Tuesday.
"With one million hectares of land, we can attract a lot of companies. One sugar factory may need 20 to 40 hectares of land with a capacity of 12,000 tons of cane per day (TCD)," Sulaiman said after a meeting with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in Jakarta.
He added that the government will not limit the number of domestic and foreign investors planning to build sugar factories in Indonesia.
"Yes, it is included in our sugar self-sufficiency plan. We can reach the target if we can build 20 to 30 sugar factories with a capacity of 12,000 TCD," Sulaiman continued.
He estimated that up to Rp3 trillion (around US$192.7 million) would be needed to build one sugar factory with a capacity of 12,000 TCD.
Claiming that there are companies that have started planting sugarcane in Papua, Sulaiman said that Indonesia's journey toward sugar self-sufficiency will still take a long time since sugarcane is an annual plant whose seedlings need to be cultivated in stages.
"Sugarcane is an annual plant with several processing stages. It also requires pure and superior seedlings from the beginning of the process," he added.
Besides the need to adapt to the local agricultural climate, the stages of planting sugarcane seedlings can take more than three years, Sulaiman said.
He added that, to boost sugar production, sugar factories in Papua are expected to be built using modern technology.
"In India, sugar production can reach 150 tons per hectare, whereas in Indonesia it can only reach 60–70 tons. The most important thing is the high-quality seedlings, which can produce a minimum yield of 100 tons per hectare," he disclosed.
12 Dec 2023
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3) Amnesty slams Prabowo's response to presidential debate question on Papua
Sabrina Asril, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamidhas criticised the response by presidential candidate number 2. Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, on his solution to resolving violence in Papua during the inaugural presidential election debate at the General Elections Commission (KPU) office yesterday.
In his answer to a question on the conflict in Papua, Prabowo in fact alluded to the issue of "foreign interference" and offered a security approach and economic development as a way to overcome the violence.
"It is precisely views such as this that have caused violence and conflict there to never stop", said Hamid in a statement on Tuesday December 12.
"The latest Lemhanas [National Resilience Institute] study shows that economic growth has failed to reduce violence and conflict", he continued.
In other places moreover, pro-investment development has in fact been proven to sacrifice civilians and open the door to human rights violations, such as in Rempang, Nagari Air Bangis, Rembang, Wadas, Halmahera and Flores.
Hamid also said he regretted that the issue of development that sacrifices civilians was not discussed in the debate, even though the candidates were challenged to explain how they would advance social welfare through development without sacrificing citizen's rights.
Returning to the issue of Papua, the other two presidential candidates, former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, were given the opportunity to respond to Prabowo's remarks.
They alluded to the importance of efforts at dialogue and providing a sense of justice as a way to end the violence in Papua.
Prabowo then expressed his agreement with this view. Hamid believes however that the presidential candidates' answers were still not specific enough.
"The solution of dialogue is needed to end the trend of violence, conflict and human rights violations in Papua. That's the wish of indigenous Papuans. Unfortunately, there was nothing heard about internal refugee policies, the release of the New Zealand pilot hostage [Philip Mehrtens], strengthening the MRP(Papuan People's Assembly) and human rights courts in Papua", said Hamid.
"This is urgent", he reiterated.
Hamid highlighted that all presidential candidates made a commitment to upholding human rights, which he believes is something positive.
"But how about their concrete policies going forward? Don't let the people be disappointed again, especially those who are victims of human rights violations. The presidential candidates must make real policies", he said.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Amnesty International: Jawaban Prabowo soal Papua Justru Penyebab Kekerasan".]
Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/12/13/18243871/amnesty-international-jawaban-prabowo-soal-papua-justru-penyebab-kekerasan
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