Jayapura, Jubi – Members of the Indigenous Hebeibulu Tribe from Yoka Village, Heram District, Jayapura City, Papua, who claim customary ownership rights over the land, blocked the entrance gate of the Jayapura Central General Hospital (RSUP Jayapura) in Abepura District on Thursday.
The blockade was carried out as part of a demand for Rp64 billion in compensation for 6.4 hectares of land used for the construction of the vertically managed national referral hospital.
David Onca Mebri, Ondoafi (traditional chief) of the Hebeibulu Tribe, said the action was taken because the tribe’s claims regarding customary land rights had yet to receive a response from the relevant authorities.
“This is the second time we have blocked access. We carried out the first one previously, but there was no response. That is why we are conducting another blockade as a warning,” Mebri said.
According to Mebri, the Indigenous community has submitted its demands to the regional government and participated in two mediation sessions facilitated by the Papua Regional Police. However, no resolution has been reached.
“We have conveyed our demands to the governor and attended two mediation meetings at the Papua Police headquarters, but we have not received a satisfactory response,” he said.
Mebri noted that in 1993, Cenderawasih University (Uncen) paid Rp400 million to elders of the Hebeibulu Tribe. However, the Indigenous community believes the amount no longer reflects current standards and regulations.
“We are demanding Rp64 billion in compensation in accordance with government procedures, based on 6.4 hectares of land valued at Rp1 million per square meter, adjusted to current regulations,” he said.
He further argued that part of the land now occupied by the hospital had previously been returned by Cenderawasih University to the Indigenous community, resulting in what he described as a shift in land ownership boundaries.
“This sago grove area has already been returned to customary ownership. Therefore, we believe the land is no longer under Uncen’s authority. If there is no response, we will carry out a total blockade,” he said.
Mebri warned that if their demands continue to go unanswered, the community will escalate its actions.
“If there is no response after our third notice, we may completely shut down access,” he said.
Meanwhile, the management of Jayapura Central General Hospital (RSUP Jayapura) assured the public that healthcare services remain operational and secure despite the blockade carried out by members of the Hebeibulu Tribe.
In a press statement received by Jubi, the hospital said it remains committed to providing optimal healthcare services while prioritizing the safety of patients, their families, healthcare workers, and all hospital personnel.
RSUP Jayapura Chief Executive Dr. Petronella Marcia Risamasu said that as a national referral hospital operated by Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, maintaining healthcare services remains the institution’s primary concern.
“All measures taken by hospital management are aimed at ensuring the continuity of healthcare services while safeguarding everyone within the hospital environment,” Risamasu said.
According to her, public healthcare services remain the hospital’s top priority under all circumstances.
At the same time, RSUP Jayapura respects the aspirations expressed by various parties and hopes that all issues can be resolved through constructive communication and dialogue.
“Our focus at this time is to ensure that healthcare services for the public continue to operate smoothly,” she said.
The hospital also urged service users and patients’ families to follow information issued through its official communication channels.
“We encourage the public to remain calm and obtain information only from reliable and accountable sources,” she said. (*)
Jayapura, Jubi – The Papuan Food Festival 2026 has been hailed as an important milestone in strengthening food security based on local wisdom while promoting the preservation of Papua’s forests.
The Sorong City Government, together with the Sago Granary Collective (Kolektif Lumbung Sagu) and the Belantara Papua Foundation, officially opened the festival at Belantara Papua in Sorong City, Southwest Papua, on Tuesday.
The opening ceremony was officiated by Sorong Deputy Mayor for Economic and Development Affairs, Tamrin Tajuddin.
“You may have straight hair, but keep your heart rooted in Papua,” Tajuddin said in his remarks, according to a written statement received by Jubi on Wednesday.
The event opened with a captivating contemporary Papuan dance performance, followed by music and songs presented by Belantara Papua, as well as a solemn rendition of the traditional Kain Kla chant by Mama Thea Gifelem.
The distinctive voices of Papuan women echoed through the venue as a symbol of respect for ancestors and nature.
Papuan Food Festival Committee Chair Salsabila Andriana, who also manages the Sago Granary Collective, said the festival was born out of concern over the gradual erosion of traditional food knowledge amid the growing dominance of industrialized food systems.
Markus Wafom, Director of the Belantara Papua Foundation, explained the role his organization plays within the community.
“This place serves as a center for mentoring Papuan children who have dropped out of school and would otherwise spend their time on the streets. Here, they are trained to become independent, choose a quieter path in life, and preserve their cultural heritage,” Wafom said.
For him, the festival reflects years of quiet grassroots work carried out alongside local communities.
The highlight of the event was a talk show moderated by Andriana, featuring two Indigenous Moi women who have become key figures in food security and conservation efforts.
They were Oyang Hana Mili, a custodian of the Waili tradition—a Moi practice of gathering, foraging, and cooking together—and Mama Batseba Mobilala, leader of the Yuluk Malagufuk women’s group from Malagufuk Tourism Village, renowned for its bird-of-paradise ecotourism.
For decades, Hana Mili has traveled throughout Papua assisting women’s groups in various regions, following in the footsteps of missionary sisters. She now focuses on gardening and preserving traditional food practices such as Waili and Menoken, a traditional method of processing sago.
“For Papuans, there are three things that should never be left behind: a machete, a lighter, and sago. One for cutting, one for making fire, and one for food,” Hana Mili said.
She emphasized that these three items are more than simple tools; they symbolize the independence and dignity of the Papuan people.
Mama Batseba Mobilala explained that as a community coordinator, she personally manages bookkeeping, organizes cooking schedules among members, and records all revenue generated from international tourists who visit her village each week.
She said she keeps detailed records of who cooks on which day, how much income is earned, and how the earnings are distributed equally among the women involved.
“By doing this, all the women trust the system and remain motivated,” she said.
Mobilala added that protecting forests is not only important for the environment but also for family livelihoods.
According to her, international tourists continue to visit because their forests remain intact and birds-of-paradise still thrive there—a reality made possible by the community’s conservation efforts.
“If this forest disappears, how will we survive? How will our children and grandchildren find food in the future?” Mobilala said.
Both Indigenous women delivered a strong message to Papua’s younger generation: protect the forests and preserve cultural traditions, because both are the very breath of life.
Following the talk show session, guests were invited to visit an exhibition titled “Oyang Hana: Maestra of Waili,” which offered an in-depth exploration of the Moi people’s traditional food knowledge.
The exhibition featured Oyang Hana’s life story, the philosophy behind the Waili foraging tradition, traditional cooking techniques, and the rituals associated with Waili communal picnics. Various traditional foods were also displayed, showcasing the richness of local Papuan gastronomy.
Two major installations served as the exhibition’s focal points. The first, the Food Granary Installation, displayed local staples such as sago, taro, sweet potatoes, cassava, and noken bags filled with root crops, symbolizing the food self-sufficiency of Papuan communities.
The second, the Interactive Forest Installation, featured a series of tree structures representing forests that have been logged and degraded.
Visitors were invited to write their hopes for Papua’s forests and local food traditions on pieces of paper, which were then hung throughout the installation.
The exhibition space was also inaugurated as a memorial to the late Max Binur, a founding figure of Belantara Papua whose work inspired culture-based conservation initiatives across the region.
The event concluded with a traditional bamboo-cooking demonstration led by Mama Batseba, Mama Thea, and Oyang Hana.
A variety of dishes were prepared during the demonstration, including snakehead fish cooked in bamboo, grilled ikan sembilan cooked in bamboo, ige or kawes—a traditional Papuan preparation of ikan sembilan—along with bamboo-roasted gedi leaves, sweet potatoes, and cassava.
Participants enjoyed the dishes while engaging in informal conversations with the women cooks, asking about ancestral recipes and the cultural philosophies behind each preparation.
The warm and relaxed atmosphere marked the conclusion of a meaningful opening celebration. The Papuan Food Festival will continue through Saturday, June 20, 2026.
Organizers hope the festival will become more than a ceremonial event and instead evolve into a sustained movement to restore the dignity and recognition of Papua’s local food traditions on the global stage.
The Papuan Food Festival is an annual initiative organized by the Sago Granary Collective and the Belantara Papua Foundation. It aims to promote local food wisdom, support traditional farmers and food processors, and advocate for forest conservation as a vital source of life for the people of Papua. (*)
Nuevaterra Mambor
A Pacific politics expert and ni-Vanuatu woman has become the first woman to be appointed to lead the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat.
Anna Naupa, described by the Vanuatu government as “one of the nation’s finest minds”, is the new director-general of the sub-regional bloc, which is headquartered in Port Vila.
The MSG is made up of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) of New Caledonia.
In a statement yesterday, Vanuatu’s Office of the Prime Minister said Naupa’s appointment was “a historic moment”.
“Since the MSG was founded in 1986 by the giants of Melanesia — Paias Wingti of Papua New Guinea, Father Walter Lini of Vanuatu, Ezekiel Alebua of Solomon Islands, and our brothers from the FLNKS [Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front] — Vanuatu has waited 40 years to lead this organisation.
“Today, that wait ends,” it said.
It said Naupa’s appointment sends a clear message to every young ni-Vanuatu girl to “aspire for the best, because the highest offices in our region are within your reach”.
Inspiring new generation
Naupa’s leadership will inspire a new generation to dream bigger and serve boldly, it added.
The Vanuatu government said it holds immense confidence in Naupa’s capabilities, leadership, and integrity, and commended the MSG and the selection team for a transparent process “that has delivered the right leader for this moment”.
Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat congratulated Naupa.
“We know the MSG was born from struggle — its heart has always been the political aspirations of the Kanak people and the big issues facing Melanesia,” the Office of the Prime Minister’s statement said.
“Over the years the organisation has grown, expanding its focus to trade, sports, culture, and other areas of common interest that bind our nations. Vanuatu believes the success of the MSG under Dr Naupa’s leadership will depend on never losing sight of that founding spirit — solidarity, justice, and self-determination for our peoples.
“Anna, you carry not just a title, but the hopes of a region. You carry Vanuatu’s pride, Melanesia’s trust, and the spirit of Father Walter Lini’s vision.”
Naupa replaces Papua New Guinea’s Leonard Louma, who was appointed in February 2022 and finished his term in late 2024.
Solomon Islander Ilan Kiloe, who is the political and security affairs programme manager, was acting in the role following Louma’s departure.
The MSG Secretariat has not made any official announcements on Naupa’s appointment.
This story was first published on
Student protests against Prabowo Subianto’s militarised style of government have exposed anger over prices, corruption and civil liberties, but without broader public support or elite pressure they are unlikely to threaten his hold on power.
In Indonesia, it was flagged as the Big One – maybe a prelude to the fall of the arrogant and feared eighth president, Prabowo Subianto busy turning his nation into a barracks. Even parts of the Australian media got excited, though the story wasn’t about a Sydney druggie in Bali.
But last Friday’s rumpus was never going to be a repeat of the 1998 demos that brought down Indonesia’s second president.
Soeharto had been running the world’s fourth most populous nation for 32 years until the currency crashed. Then the discreet oligarchs who run Indonesia slipped him a note. It read: “Go”.
In last century’s Asian economic crisis, Krismon – krisis moneter – the rupiah crumpled from a steady 2,500 to almost 17,000 against the greenback.
There are still cities in the Republic where the see-through rusting skeletons of half-finished office towers scar the streetscape, monuments to a giant failure, a financial system so badly run that clefts in jungle ironbarks would have been safer repositories.
The losses were staggering; 45 private banks collapsed or were liquidated. More than 70 per cent of the Jakarta Stock Exchange-listed companies became insolvent or went bankrupt.
Armageddon didn’t have to be imagined – it was here.
I wrote later in The Jakarta Post: “Indonesia didn’t break down like Egypt or crash like Syria. The gears grated, the engine coughed, but democracy kept edging forward and stayed on the road, a modern miracle of social change insufficiently acknowledged.”
That’s not happening now.
The demos in Jakarta and other big cities this month were never going to have the intensity of Tragedi 1998. Disgust with Soeharto’s mismanagement and corruption had been brewing for years and only needed the right yeast and conditions to ferment.
It also required the guidance of a respected leader. The man of the moment was a US-educated academic, Dr Amien Rais. Another tick – his involvement with the Muslim movement Muhammadiyah.
In the West, the Father of Reform is Martin Luther, the 16th-century theologian who took on the Catholic establishment. In Indonesia, it’s Professor Rais, now 82.
The other ingredient was provocation. This was provided by the army shooting four unarmed undergrads sheltering at the top private Trisakti University, favoured by many elite families.
Although this month’s student demo was reportedly the biggest since last August’s clashes between protesters and security forces left at least 13 dead.
Affan Kurniawan, 21, was a motorbike courier run over by a military vehicle; he became a martyr and a focus for the protests.
At the demo this month, there were no burnings, only two arrests (not students), no deaths, no leader and no plan other than demands that will head straight to landfill. On the winner’s podium, one short, shouty man of 74 is trying to show he’s not past his use-by date.
Undeterred, the protestors threaten to return next Saturday. If they do, they’ll need new tactics to make an impression. This is not a plea for punch-ups.
As the Father of Civil Resistance Mahatma Gandhi said: “What is gained by violence must be lost before superior violence.”
Last week’s street show reportedly featured about 1,500 Jakarta students in yellow jackets chanting Heading to Bankrupt Indonesia, and getting selfies alongside barricades and cops with shields: “Look, Ibu, I was here.”
Police and military outnumbered the students four-to-one.
Where were the wong cilik, the wee people in a city of 42 million? Where were the TV cameras apart from Kompas?
Are students now so elite they’ve forgotten their roots? The 1789 French Revolution succeeded because it included the sans-culottes.
A theory from Indonesian commentator Jihad Azhar on his blog The Messy Middle:
“Sometimes I think this country survives because its people are too forgiving, too used to suffering, too used to making jokes out of wounds, too used to lowering expectations until neglect starts to feel normal.
“We are so good at enduring that maybe those in power have mistaken our endurance for permission.”
Fortunately, the protestors had the protection of crowds if they chose to mock Prabowo, a dangerous practice for lone critics near CCTV cameras or satpam (security).
Australian political leaders are considered fair targets for public comment. Provided abusers don’t threaten violence or vomit hate, few will care. Not in Indonesia, where a speech deemed insulting to Prabowo, and the “honour and dignity” of his office can cop four years jail.
The bill creating this offence came directly from Prabowo this January, 15 months after the former career general took office and decided his nobility was at risk. (In 1998, he was cashiered for disobeying orders and fled to exile in Jordan. This history is rarely revived.)
It seemed last Friday’s novices’ only plan was to wave banners and demand lower prices for basic goods and fuel. Although bowser premium prices have just risen 30 per cent, the government’s claim that the US-Iran war is impacting imports and limiting opportunities to play with retail prices seems reasonable.
Next demand: end “wasteful state spending” by closing the Free Nutritious Meals (Makam Bergizi Gratis) program. Though driven by public health needs, it has been spoiled by corruption, mismanagement and overspending of the US $28 billion (five-year) budget.
MBG won’t be closed because it’s Prabowo’s pet. He’s sacked some senior staff and promised reform.
Next gripe: The national government is building 80,000 Kop Des Merah Putih (Red and White Village Cooperatives). The colours are on the flag.
The co-ops will compete with privately owned convenience stores and are said to be having problems with staffing and management. This is another Prabowo ideology.
One minister explained the co-ops would “serve the interests of village communities … break the poverty chain in villages and boost villagers’ income.”
Although locals are supposed to be involved, the military is reportedly taking a big role through drafting, getting bank loans and “daily supervision.”
This fits with Prabowo’s intent to militarise civil society by putting serving and retired officers into managing sections of the economy, though many are ill-suited. Another policy that has to go, said the students.
No change coming. Why should there be? The polls seem to show the President has 80 per cent support, so who cares what the activists chant and the elite dislike? Although Prabowo claims he consults widely, the reality is that only he decides policies, and that seems okay with voters.
A Tempo magazine editorial commented: “This effort to govern through threats and spreading of fear moves the country closer to the practices of a military machine. The characteristics of such a model rely on top-down, command-style political decision making …
“The government creates order and stability through coercion, displaying low transparency and restricting civil liberties.”
A few thousand students taking street selfies to show protests can be fun, but it isn’t going to shift Prabowo or electors who like tough guys.
Change awaits a note to the Palace from the oligarchs who run Indonesia.
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