Indonesian polls may delay Freeport settlement

http://www.atimes.com/article/indonesian-polls-may-delay-freeport-settlement/

Indonesian polls may delay Freeport settlement

US mining giant's planned divestment in world's largest gold and second largest copper mine threatens to become ensnared in election politics

By JOHN MCBETH JAKARTA, MARCH 15, 2018 2:43 PM (UTC+8)

If the difficult talks between the Indonesian government and American-owned Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold over the future of Papua’s Grasberg mine drag on beyond mid-year, they might well be postponed until after next year’s legislative and presidential elections. Analysts believe that as much as he wants to reach an overall settlement in the next two months, President Joko Widodo will not be keen for the negotiations on such key issues as valuation and managerial control to become a distraction ahead of or during the campaign period, which formally begins in mid-September.

Government sources say the president’s main concern is to secure funding commitments for the majority stake Freeport agreed to divest in its Indonesian subsidiary so he can show that progress is being made in implementing the framework agreement the two sides signed six months ago.

That means the pressure is on Budi Gunadi Sadikin, chief executive of state-owned holding company PT Inalum, to come up with the offshore bank loans needed to cover the cost of the acquisition, even if the valuation of the Grasberg has yet to be agreed. The Grasberg is the largest gold and second largest copper mine in the world.

It is widely believed Widodo will effectively turn over much of the running of the government to Vice President Jusuf Kalla in August or September, leaving some of the outstanding issues to be resolved after the simultaneous elections are held in April 2019.

Characterized as a “love-hate” relationship by one government official, the two leaders appear to have come to an accommodation in the year since Kalla openly opposed the re-election of former Jakarta governor Basuki Purnama, a Widodo ally who lost the race and is now serving a jail term for blasphemy.

The president is clearly intent on making progress on other fronts now that it is clear his government’s restrictive policies across a range of business sectors are proving to be a barrier to the foreign investment needed to boost the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth beyond 5%.

Widodo wants Kalla to take charge of improving the long-criticized work permit system, preparing a package of tax incentives for foreign investors and reviewing the so-called ‘Negative List’ that closes several sectors of the economy to outside investment.

Given the already low percentage of foreigners in the Indonesian labor force, the tighter work permit rules imposed in the early days of Widodo’s rule have seemed to be more about populist protectionism than preserving jobs for domestic workers.

Kalla will also seek to delay the implementation of a potentially disastrous law, passed in the final days of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration, that requires Islamic law compliant halal certification for everything from foodstuffs to cosmetics to pharmaceuticals to clothing to even car-seat covers.

Widodo has reportedly vowed not to sign the implementing presidential decree while government legal experts work on a revision to the law, which the Health Ministry and businessmen alike say isn’t workable and an invitation to rampant corruption.

The government is seeking to put a similar brake on proposed Islamic law influenced changes to the Criminal Code that would impose a sweeping ban on same-sex relations, pre-marital sex, cohabitation among couples, sex education and condom distribution.

If the Freeport impasse is shuffled into the “too hard to resolve” basket, it would still hang over any new administration given the strength of the country’s nationalist lobby and the way the issue has become a test case for Widodo’s value-added policy.

How the government treats the much-maligned company, often regarded by Indonesians as ‘corporate enemy No 1’ despite being the country’s top taxpayer, is also under scrutiny from foreign investors already nervous about over-regulation and legal uncertainties.

Valuation, management control and a financial stability agreement remain the main obstacles as Freeport chief executive Richard Adkerson shuttles between Phoenix and Jakarta for meetings with senior Indonesian officials led by Mines and Energy Minister Ignasius Jonan.

The two sides are far apart on a fair market value of the Grasberg, though the gap might be closing. The government is offering US$3 to US$4 billion for the rest of a controlling stake, while Freeport has countered with a figure that leaves about US$1.5 to US$2 billion outstanding.

Currently the owner of 9.36% of Freeport Indonesia, the government is looking to acquire another 41.64% in a scheme involving Freeport’s Anglo-Australian partner, Rio Tinto, which has options on 40% of the Grasberg after 2022. That stake would potentially be converted to shares through a rights issue.

While there is agreement Freeport will continue to run the mine’s operations until 2041, the government insists that as the majority shareholder it should take over management control after Freeport’s current contract expires in 2021.

Freeport and Rio Tinto have so far spent about US$7 billion on an underground expansion of the mine because the open pit is running out, but another US$20 billion investment is still required, including US$2.2 billion to pay for a new smelter under Jakarta’s value-added policy.

For all that, however, industry sources claim the smelter could cost as much as US$8 to US$10 billion in lost revenues and subsidies over the remaining life of the mine, with treatment charges expected to double to 60-65 US cents a pound.

It is still not clear whether the smelter will be built in East Java, close to an existing Mitsubishi-run facility, or whether it will be moved to Sumbawa as part of a shared venture with Indonesian-owned Amman Mineral, which operates the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine.

The harder ore encountered underground, along with hundreds of kilometers of electric railway, will also require an additional 130 megawatts (MW) of coal-fired power generation, boosting the Grasberg’s overall capacity to more than 500MW.

The government has shelved a planned 300MW hydro-electric plant, 100 kilometers west of the Grasberg, which would have served both the mine and the coastal logistics center of Timika, whose 200,000-strong population is starved for electricity.

Freeport estimates the Grasberg’s open pit will be exhausted of the last of its high-grade copper and gold ore within the next 12 months. While the transition to a purely underground mine will happen by early next year, it is expected to bring a significant fall in revenues.

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

‘At the dawn of a new day’ FLNKS Congress calls for “full sovereignty”

https://www.islandsbusiness.com/component/k2/item/2022-at-the-dawn-of-a-new-day-full-story.html

Islands Business Magazine Published in 2018 March

by Nic Maclellan

‘At the dawn of a new day’

FLNKS Congress calls for “full sovereignty”

AS New Caledonia’s FLNKS independence movement met in congress last month near the northern town of Poum, the theme highlighted the importance of the coming year: “Yet Tim Men Ta Yabwat” (At the dawn of a new day). After decades of campaigning, a decision on New Caledonia’s political status is looming.

The exact date is still to be announced, but New Caledonia’s referendum on self-determination must be held before the end of the year, after a 20-year transition established by the 1998 Noumea Accord. Opponents of independence believe that they will win the vote and retain their current status within the French Republic. After generations of settlement and migration, the indigenous Kanak people are a minority in their own country, so mobilising independence supporters in the lead up to the referendum is all the more important. The 36th Congress of the Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) met at Arama on 3-4 February.

The meeting provided a crucial opportunity for delegates and activists to build common understanding on issues that have long been debated within the broad independence coalition. For many years, there have been internal tensions over leadership, how to negotiate with conservative pro-French parties and the best path for a transition to a new political status. But with only months remaining until the referendum, there is a need to promote unity amongst the four political parties that comprise the FLNKS: Union Calédonienne (UC); Parti de Libération Kanak (Palika); Rassemblement Démocratique Océanien (RDO); and Union Progressiste Mélanésien (UPM). The first President of the FLNKS, JeanMarie Tjibaou, was assassinated in 1989 and the position was later filled by Palika’s Paul Neaoutyine and UC’s Roch Wamytan. But since 2001, the independence coalition has been unable to agree on a President.

To avoid potentially divisive debates over leadership, the Arama Congress decided to leave the position vacant and instead appointed UC President Daniel Goa as its official spokesperson within New Caledonia, the region and internationally. Debating the path forward As the largest and oldest member of the independence movement, UC has long called for the adoption of full, sovereign political independence.

The other FLNKS members have been more open to variations of political status. Palika President Paul Neaoutyine has declared his party is open to discussing “l’indépendance avec partenariat” (independence with partnership), which would establish New Caledonia as an independent nation but with an ongoing relationship with France. Despite these differences, the FLNKS congress “reaffirmed its objective to have the country accede to full sovereignty in the referendum scheduled for this year 2018.”

If New Caledonia’s Congress cannot agree on a date for the referendum by May this year, the French State must hold the referendum at least six months before next Congressional elections in May 2019. For this reason, everyone is gearing up for a referendum in late October or November, preparing for a public campaign in the months before the vote. One of the central concerns for independence supporters has been to meet the legal requirement that potential referendum voters must be registered on the general electoral roll.

The Congress called on independence activists appointed to the Special Administrative Committees which register voters “to maintain the greatest possible vigilance during the forthcoming work to update the special lists and especially those for the referendum.” The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation is expected to send a mission to New Caledonia this month, to monitor the work of these Special Administrative Committees, as they finalise the voting roll that will be released publically in August. The FLNKS Congress reaffirmed its call for automatic registration of all indigenous Kanaks of voting age, echoing a central concern of the Rassemblement des indépendantistes et nationalistes (RIN).

The RIN is a loose network outside the FLNKS that includes more radical proindependence groups like the Parti Travailliste (PT), Dynamique Unitaire Sud (DUS), the USTKE trade union confederation and individual activists. UC President Daniel Goa has floated the idea of re-incorporating all pro-independence forces - including political parties, trade unions and churches - within the FLNKS. However this idea was not accepted by Palika and UPM at the Arama congress. Instead, the congress resolution called on “independence supporters, progressives and nationalists to support the planned accession to full sovereignty and to re-join the structures created by the FLNKS to undertake a campaign at local level.”

This aims to reinforce the “Comités Nationalistes et Citoyens” (CNC), a network of local action groups in tribes and towns across the country. The CNC were created in 2016 as a structure for independence supporters to campaign together at the grassroots, regardless of political affiliation. Young people share their vision This spirit of cooperation was evident amongst young Kanaks at the Arama meeting. A key feature of the congress was the strong presence and coordination of young people, who have not been involved in longstanding political jousting amongst their elders, often dating back to the 1970s. Each of the FLNKS member parties has a separate youth wing, but younger delegates caucused together and issued a joint statement from the congress.

The youth declaration called for “a sovereign Kanaky-New-Caledonia, as a multicultural, secular, democratic and united republic.” The united youth network will organise a series of cultural and sporting events during 2018, so that “young New Caledonians, whoever they may be, can join the movement for national unity so our country can access full sovereignty.” New Caledonian leaders across the political spectrum will meet with French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and other representatives in March for the next Committee of Signatories to the Noumea Accord.

This meeting, one of the last before the referendum, will address outstanding issues over the referendum process, as well as the transfer of the remaining “Article 27” powers from Paris to Noumea (including control of the university, TV and radio, as well as the ADRAF land reform agency currently managed by the French State). To continue the momentum towards the vote, the FLNKS will hold a national convention in April.

This meeting will see the formal launch of the independence movement’s campaign, in the lead up to a scheduled visit by French President Emmanuel Macron. Since last year, the FLNKS has been developing a proposal for “a sovereign Kanaky-New-Caledonia,” with ideas for economic, political and cultural reform that will be the centrepiece of the referendum campaign. Beyond its mobilisation on the ground, the FLNKS congress resolutions highlighted the importance of international solidarity, including the “historic and ongoing support of the Melanesian Spearhead Group,” support from the Non-Aligned Movement as well as churches, NGOs and trade unions (a notable omission from the list is the Pacific Islands Forum, given the rapprochement between France and key Forum member states like Australia). To mobilise international support during 2018, the FLNKS will soon name overseas representatives as official spokespeople in Europe and the Pacific islands.

The movement will also send a team to build support for independence and sovereignty in French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna (key constituencies, given the large Tahitian and Wallisian populations living in New Caledonia). Soon after the congress, FLNKS delegates travelled to Port Moresby for the MSG summit. As a signal to the host government, the Arama congress “reaffirmed its unshakeable support for the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) in its combat for human rights and the right to self-determination in West Papua.” The FLNKS congress also resolved to support nationalist movements in Corsica, Catalonia and French Polynesia – signalling their support for allies in the debate over autonomy, decentralisation and independence that is raging around the globe, from Spain to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, from old Caledonia to New Caledonia.

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

1) Momuna tribe: Faith and the way of living

2) Katile and katilol: the traditional conservation of Fafanlap community

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

http://tabloidjubi.com/eng/momuna-tribe-faith-way-living/

1) Momuna tribe: Faith and the way of living     

admin14 March 2018

                                        Momuna people in Yahukimo District. -Jubi/Piter Lokon

Momuna tribe, who live in the lowland of Dekai City, has in common with Korowai tribe, a tribe who spreads in the three administrative areas of Boven Digoel, Mappi and Asmat. The most common between these two tribes is the shape of their traditional house, which is built on a tree. Momuna people call their tree house buku subu.

However, it has changed as the time flies. Currently, Momuna people are rarely living in the tree house. They live in regular houses that were provided by the government of Yahukimo District as part of their social development program. Yet, people still build the buku subu in order to attract some local and domestic tourists to visit their village in Dekai.

Regarding to faith, Momuna tribe always own their belief about creation since long time ago. “We don’t believe in trees or rivers. We believe that there is the One who creates us,” the Momuna tribe chief Ismail Keikera recently told Jubi in his house.

Momuna people believe in the existence of the Creator, and it must have its own place. Therefore, there are some places that regarded as the sacred ones. “In the past, there are some sacred places or prohibitions from our ancestors. These are still believed until now by this generation,” said Keikera.

He made an example. There is a prohibition from the elders for not cutting down or even touching the redwood or in Momuna language is called koweni. Once it is touched, people who have done it could lose their mind. “Many patients that we’ve seen in the hospital were thrashing like crazy, a madman. It is because they touched the koweni tree. If it happened to us (Momuna tribe), there is no need to be taken to the hospital, just give it a blow for a while. They must be cured,” he said.

Given to this fact, however, Momuna tribe has never worshipped trees, stones or rivers. “We only worship the Potmadito (God the Creator) who rules the heaven and the earth. It’s almost similar to the story in the Bible. So, we believe in the existence of God the Creator.”

Gathering and hunting for food

Momuna people do fishing or in their language it calls ci, ploughing sago or mbi, and collecting wild yams or mate for survival. In addition, they also hunt for a living that usually for wild boar, cassowary, crocodile, turtle and so on.

Ismail said sago and yams have always become their staple food. “Not eating sago makes people weak. Rice is just coming recently.”

According to him, only certain people are allowed to cutting down the sago trees. As it is Momuna’s staple food, cutting down the sago trees is clearly to killing Momuna people. “Anyone who’ve caught out cutting down the sago tree could be fined up to Rp 50 million. So, don’t dare to mess with our sago trees because it’s our staple food. Cutting down the sago trees is equal to killing one life,” he said.

However, he did not deny that the government has distributed rice under the rice for poor or rice for prosperous programs, which was a direct assistance of Yahukimo District Government, through PD Irian Bakti to village apparatus.

Since long time ago, Ismail said, their ancestors were always moving around. When the source of food was run out, they had to move to other location for opening a new planting field.

Anthropologists say there are three kinds of nomadic lifestyle, namely hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads, and peripatetic nomads.  Hunter-gatherer, according to experts, is the longest survival method in human history. They move to other places to follow the season of the wild plantation and hunting animals. The rotation of swidden cultivation will last for 20 years, and people will always return to their original location for gardening because the land is already fertile.

Shifting cultivation actually fit with real conditions in the field. If soil fertility begins to diminish, people will leave the land in order to improve the cycle of fertility. It is much different to what has been applied in permanent cultivation because the tropical lands are not always fertile if not fertilized.

Indonesian anthropologist Prof. Dr. Subur Budi Santoso stated in his research that the work ethic of the hunter-gatherer people is very strong in a way to achieve the best possible results without destroying the environment. It is an example of the patterns of human adaptation.  (*)

 

Reporter: Piter Lokon

Editor: Pipit Maizier

———————————————————————————————

http://tabloidjubi.com/eng/katile-katilol-traditional-conservation-fafanlap-community/

2) Katile and katilol: the traditional conservation of Fafanlap community

admin14 March 2018

Many prohibitions for some people in Papua are actually to protect their natural resources from any threats.

These bans can have various names, such as Samson for Matbat ethnic of Misool Island, or sasisen for Biak people, or rajaha for Maya people of Salawati Island, and Tepera people of Tablanusu village call it tiaitiki. Even though they have many different names, it contains the same meaning and purpose that is not to let people utilizing the natural resources within a certain time. This is to provide opportunities for certain flora and fauna to renew and duplicate as well as to maintain and multiply the population of their surrounding natural resources.

Fafanlap Village, which is located in Misool Island, Raja Ampat, recognizes a prohibition law or katilol in their local language. Katilol is closely related to the prohibitions applied in the sea and the land. Further, the application of this rule cannot be separated from the role of the customary leaders of kings who have authority in Misool Island, especially Fafanlap Village.

Katilol, according to customary leaders –as quoted by Jubi from Sasi Katilol Masyarakat Kampung Fafanlap Distrik Misool Selatan by Windy Hapsari et.al, Papua Cultural Value Preservation Office, the Education and Cultural Ministry—told firstly, is regarded as people tradition. Secondly, it is regarded as customary law, and the third, it is regarded as an order or a prohibition from a leader or a king.

Especially for Matbal tribe, who are the majority of Fafanlap villagers, this law has been descended from their ancestors and present generation continues to defend it to preserve the environment. The prohibition is applied to both areas of sea and land. To separate it, they call it katilol and katile for the rules who apply in these areas respectively.

These prohibitions are usually determined on an arrangement, but interestingly, it can also be done unintentionally. The first is usually done based on necessity, for instance by considering the decrease of sea or plant harvesting. While the latter is done because of external factors such as climate or seasonal calendar applied by villagers.

If sawi or east wind season comes, there are usually big waves and windy. As a result, fishermen are fear to going fishing. They have to wait until the weather turns friendly, then they go to the sea. This season occurs for almost six months before altering with moropat or west wind season that also endures for the same period. However, the climate and season could be different in some villages. It depends on the geographical location of each area.

Katilol and katile are included in the seasonal calendar of Fafanlap villagers by considering the presence of natural phenomena, especially for katilol, which related to the prohibition in the sea. Sea phenomenon can be seen through low tide or in local language meti and tidal or mos.

There are several types of prohibition laws, including religious and customary laws. Religious prohibition law is usually applied to religious need. For example, people are prohibited to harvest coconut trees. It will be ended for religious event or construction of worship building. Meanwhile, customary law has been rarely to apply since 2001. However, each clan still applies it according to their customary areas.

Currently, the implementation of sea law has been decreased for several reasons. The first reason is the role of the customary government is decline. Another is a conflict between these leaders. However, the sea law prohibition is still applied in Fafanlap Village that led by a kapitla. Kapitla is actually the abbreviation from kapitan laut or sea commander.

A kapitla of Fafanlap village comes from Soltif clan. As a traditional leader, he is assisted by sgaji, marin, and sawo. Marin is a messenger who is responsible to deliver an order from kapitla. A marin in Fafanlap village comes from Wainsaf clan. (*)

 

Reporter: Dominggus Mampioper

Editor: Pipit Maizier

-----------

1) West Papua Solidarity for PNG launched

2) A thousand candles for earthquake victims in Papua New Guinea from West Papua

3) Rainbow Warrior takes on fresh eco mission to Papua, Indonesia

4) Australia-Indonesia border tensions resurface

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

http://tabloidjubi.com/eng/west-papua-solidarity-png-launched/

1) West Papua Solidarity for PNG launched 

admin13 March 2018

Candles Action and West Papua Solidarity for the victims of the earthquake in PNG launched in Lingkaran Abepura. – Jubi/Dok.

Jayapura, Jubi – West Papua Solidarity for the earthquake victims in Papua New Guinea has been launched on Monday, 12 March 2018 in Lingkaran Abepura, Jayapura City, Papua.

“Starting today, we are in solidarity,” the Coordinator of West Papua Solidarity Sem Awom read his statement in front of hundreds of students and youth activists in Abepura.

He said the act of solidarity is aimed to express sympathy for their brothers in PNG who were died, injured or traumatized in the recent earthquake. He also said the victims certainly need supports from the people of Papua, Melanesia and the world as well. “This solidarity has to break all boundaries,” said Awom.

Another Papuan activist Nelius Wenda said the earthquake that stroked Papua New Guinea has reminded him of the solidarity and ties of Papuan brotherhood. “We actually have a common ancestor, but separated by State border,” he said.

When the earthquake happened, he said, Papuans grieved for the victims who died and injured. “We will do our best,” said Wenda.

Separately, the Secretary of West Papua Solidarity Kristianus Dogopia said fund raising to help the victims would continue until the end of the month. “We will come to houses and student dormitories to collect the funds. We will also speak to the church leaders to get involved in this fund raising,” he said. (*)

 

Reporter: Benny Mawel

Editor: Pipit Maizier

———————————————————————

http://tabloidjubi.com/eng/thousand-candles-earthquake-victims-papua-new-guinea-west-papua/

2) A thousand candles for earthquake victims in Papua New Guinea from West Papua

admin12 March 2018

1,000 candles action for earthquake victims in PNG Abepura was held in Abepura. – Supplied

Jayapura, Jubi – West Papua Solidarity conducted a thousand candles action in Abepura, Jayapura City on Sunday (11/3/2018) to express deep condolence towards the earthquake victims in Papua New Guinea.

“West Papuan people expressed their condolences for their brothers in Papua New Guinea who get struck by a natural disaster,” said the Bureau Chief of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Sem Awom.

This event also marked the launching the West Papua Solidarity for the earthquake victims in PNG. “Starting today, we will disseminate information on the solidarity act for the earthquake victims in Papua New Guinea,” said Awom.

Moreover, he said it would not close the possibility for other supporters in different regions in Papua to join in the act, including West Papuan people who live in Papua New Guinea. In addition, the United Liberation Movement for West Papua also calls the international community to build a solidarity team because the number of victims has reached seventeen thousand people and they need help and supports.

The 7.5 Richter scale earthquake was reportedly hit the mountainous area of the Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea, on February 26, 2018. It damaged houses and roads and killed more than 100 people, while 500 were reportedly injured.

Papuan human right activist Markus Haluk expected all Papuan people could help the victims by directly engaging in the act of solidarity. According to him, participating in the event was evidence that people have the bond of brotherhood with the victims. “I hope this act resonates throughout the Papuan regions,” he said. (*)

Reporter: Benny Mawel

Editor: Pipit Maizier

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

https://asiapacificreport.nz/2018/03/13/rainbow-warrior-takes-on-fresh-eco-mission-to-indonesia/

3) Rainbow Warrior takes on fresh eco mission to Papua, Indonesia

By PMC Editor - 

  

March 13, 2018

By Astari Pinasthika Sarosa in Jakarta

The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior is sailing throughout Indonesia – including West Papua – as a vehicle for environmental campaigns.

Rainbow Warrior has often sailed to remote areas to directly see the environmental issues in the region and immediately act against its destruction.

Recently in the Philippines, this is the first visit to Indonesia since 2013. The Rainbow Warrior will be sailing in the archipelago from this week until next month.

The visit themed Jelajah Harmoni Nusantara will be the longest tour of the Rainbow Warrior.

Its first destination is Papua to witness the natural beauty of Papuan rainforest. The ship’s crew will also see the underwater life of Raja Ampat.

After leaving Papua, the Rainbow Warrior will head to Bali, sampling a rich culture which holds local wisdom, and its beliefs that the best source of energy comes from nature.

The last destination is Jakarta. As the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta has many issues including pollution and waste.

‘Eco-friendly’ city goal
The Rainbow Warrior aims to help Jakarta to be a more comfortable and eco-friendly city.

“The main point of this tour is to create harmony in protecting the Indonesian environment,” Greenpeace said in a press release.

The name Rainbow Warrior was based on the prophecy of a native American tribe Cree in saying, “When the earth becomes sick and dying, there will come a day when people from all over the world will rise up as the Rainbow Warrior.”

The Rainbow Warrior is the third-generation version of the campaign ship.

The first generation vessel was destroyed by limpet mines. On 10 July 1985, French secret agents planted two bombs and sank the Rainbow Warrior, killing photojournalist Fernando Pereira.

After the bombing, the original Rainbow Warrior ship was towed to Matauri Bay, in New Zealand’s Cavalli Islands, and was submerged as an “alive reef” attracted marine life and recreational divers.

The second Rainbow Warrior sailed for 22 years until 2011 when she was replaced with the third generation Rainbow Warrior.

Like its predecessor, this ship carries out green and peaceful campaigns for the future of the planet.

——————————————————

http://www.atimes.com/article/australia-indonesia-border-tensions-resurface/

4) Australia-Indonesia border tensions resurface

By ALAN BOYD MARCH 13, 2018 5:37 PM (UTC+8)

Canberra's settlement with Timor Leste on the Greater Sunrise gas field is making waves for other maritime boundary disputes

Indonesia’s long-held resentment over Australia’s sprawling maritime claims along their ill-defined border have spilled into the diplomatic arena following a recent settlement of a parallel dispute in neighboring Timor Leste, also known as East Timor.

Jakarta contends that the Timor agreement, which affects the jurisdiction of energy reserves worth billions of dollars in the Greater Sunrise gas fields, will nullify a 1997 treaty demarcating the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of Indonesia and Australia.

Foreign ministry director-general of legal affairs and international treaties Damos Agusman said the Perth Treaty, which Indonesia has never ratified, “cannot enter into force as it stands now as it, inter alia, covers area that now belongs to TL [Timor Leste], and is the object of the conciliation.”

Precise details of the Timor Leste deal have not yet been released, but it is thought to have redrawn the border with Australia midway between the countries instead of relying on a Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) that had left the best of the Greater Sunrise’s gas fields mostly in Australian hands. It is believed to hold at least US$31.5 billion of energy reserves.

About 80% of Greater Sunrise will remain in Australian territory if the border is simply moved an equal distance between the countries, as the field is outside the JPDA.

For Timor Leste to benefit, the JPDA would also need to be shifted east, taking it into Indonesian waters. Timor Leste and Indonesia have an equidistance agreement on their own territories in the eastern region.

Indonesia has responded as one would expect: it now wants to negotiate an equidistance agreement with Australia that would move their border further to the south and thus give Indonesia an 80% share of Sunrise. The coveted field is already closer to Indonesian territory than to Australia.

The existing border, based on a complicated series of 1972 compromises, is both east and west of the expected new Timor Leste-Australia boundary.

Like the original Timor agreement, it resulted from the inability of the new countries to agree on a demarcation; a series of fruitless negotiations was set aside in the 1980s and the de facto border became the edges of a JPDA, where royalties from oil and gas explorations would be shared.

Operating from a position of strength while Indonesia was rebuilding from the tumultuous Sukarno era, Australia took advantage of now-discredited international laws on marine boundaries that allowed signatories to use continental shelves as a basis for delineation.

Indonesia’s borders were pushed well north of the midway point, creating inevitable acrimony.

In 1997, Canberra sought a similar treaty on maritime resources above the seabed, but was unsuccessful because a proposed zone extending 370 kilometers from Australian shores would have created overlapping. As is customary in such cases, a border was declared midway between the two countries.

With separate agreements for the upper and lower seabed, Australia has continental possessions that are a short distance from Indonesia, yet cannot prevent Indonesian fishermen from sailing past these islands into the midway point of the maritime border much further to the south.

The islands of Ashmore and Cartier are only 170 kilometers below the island of Roti, which Indonesia claims through its West Timor territory; yet they are 320 kilometers from Australia, which has claimed the islands since 1933. Moving the border to a midway point would make them part of Indonesia.

Uninhabited and mostly visited by Indonesian fishermen, their loss would not be felt much in Canberra. But there are bigger concerns over the fate of Christmas Island and the Cocos island group, both closer to Indonesia than to Australia, which play a vital role in Canberra’s forward defense strategies.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop quickly moved to dampen calls for the negotiation of a permanent border, but nationalist feelings are running so high in Indonesia that Jakarta’s hands may be tied. There is particular anger over the disputed status of Ashmore and Cartier, which some Indonesian academics say was controlled by the Dutch, Indonesia’s colonial masters.

Indonesia would technically have the upper hand if the issue went to arbitration, as the equidistance rule is now standard practice under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

However, Australia withdrew from the UNCLOS tribunal and maritime jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to halt Timor Leste’s claims in the 1990s.

The re-negotiation of Timor’s agreement was overseen by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, an inter-governmental organization that oversees the UNCLOS and the International Court of Justice. The PCA will hear disputes in special tribunals if either party rejects these covenants.

Canberra kept Timor Leste at bay for decades and could do the same to Jakarta. But this may be only the start of Australia’s problems, as there is a fourth country that wants a share of the oil and gas riches in the Timor Sea.

Papua New Guinea is now keen to overturn laws dating back to the 1870s that handed many of its maritime resources to the state government of Queensland in the era before the British colony became part of an Australian federation.

A new treaty was negotiated in 1978, but many inshore islands remained Australian territory in exchange for a deal granting Papua New Guinea extended fishing rights. One of these islands, Kussa, is just 200 meters from Papua New Guinea’s shores at low tide, which has apparently become too close for comfort.

-----------

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

Wale slams politicians

http://www.solomonstarnews.com/index.php/news/national/item/20233-wale-slams-politicians

Wale slams politicians

Solomon Star 12 March 2018

Member of Parliament (MP) for Aoke-Langalanga Mathew Wale

Member of Parliament (MP) for Aoke-Langalanga Mathew Wale has lashed out at the country’s Parliamentarians who have bowed down to Fiji’s economic interests when the issue of West Papua was brought up at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) meetings.

Speaking in Parliament last week, Wale said Prime Minister Rick Houenipwela was wrong to have apologised in the recent MSG leaders meeting in Port Moresby last month because this only shows that Solomon Islands is weak and will therefore continue to allow Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG) to always ride over Solomon Islands at the regional meeting.

Wale, who sits at the Independence Bench in Parliament, said the Solomon Islands must stand firm on its position on West Papua and not to apologise at the regional level because this only shows the country is weak.

He was speaking on the session where the question on the apology by the Prime Minister Houenipwela in the recent MSG meeting was raised.

The question was earlier raised by Mr Wale himself as a question in the Order Paper of the session.

It was during the question and answer session of Parliament that Minister for Foreign Affairs Milner Tozaka stood up to support and reiterate on the importance of the apology made by Prime Minister Houenipwela at the recent MSG summit.

Mr Tozaka said the apology showed how Solomon Islands play an important role in upholding respect among our leaders within MSG in the PNG meeting.

“If anything is wrong or we do not feel good about it, then we reconcile,” said Tozaka.

“We show respect to other leaders as part of our culture and tradition to protect our relationship and stay calm to discuss together issues affecting our countries.”

He said the apology does not undermine the country’s diplomatic relationship with the MSG countries.

Mr Tozaka gave the example of the important role Solomon Islands played on the reconciliation Solomon Islands mediated and hosted in year 2010, which reconciled Fiji and Vanuatu over their differences.

He said leaders come together to iron out the differences and move forward.

But Mr Wale slammed the reconciliation event hosted in Honiara by stating it was Tozaka and the Prime Minister then who hosted the reconciliation and gave the chairmanship of MSG to the unelected dictator of Fiji in 2011.

“That is why MSG is a laughing stock,” he said.

“PNG and Fiji continue to ride over us because we accept rubbish,” Mr Wale said.

Mr Wale said he understands that PNG has security issues regarding the West Papua issue but Fiji’s interest is money and their heart is not Melanesian.

Wale stressed that Solomon Islands must stand with its Melanesian brothers and sisters in West Papua because they were treated like dogs or even worse than dogs.

Fiji is represented at the recent MSG Leaders Meeting in Port Moresby last month by the Defence and National Security Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola.

By AATAI JOHN LAUNGI

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

West Papua’s enduring struggle for independence

http://www.atimes.com/west-papuas-enduring-struggle-independence/

West Papua’s enduring struggle for independence

By GIACOMO TOGNINI MARCH 13, 2018 4:24 AM (UTC+8)

The next two years could prove to be transformative for Melanesia, a region of Pacific islands spanning from Papua in the west to Fiji in the east. Two votes on independence, scheduled in 2018 and 2019, could bring two new nations into the fold and shake up the politics of a region where decolonization is still a pressing matter.

One more long-running movement hopes to join their ranks: the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), which seeks independence for the Indonesian-controlled western half of the island. Unlike their neighbors in French New Caledonia and the Papuan island of Bougainville, there is little prospect of a free vote for West Papuans.

In an unprecedented effort organized by ULMWP leader Benny Wenda,  activists in West Papua and among the diaspora worked to collect 1.8 million signatures throughout West Papua’s two provinces for an independence petition to be presented to the United Nations last September. Despite receiving the backing of over 70% of West Papua’s population, the effort to gain a seat at the UN Decolonization Committee failed — it won the support of only eight countries, all of them small Caribbean and Pacific island states.

“I think the Indonesian government will increase its efforts to block the ULMWP,” says Jakarta-based Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono. “This could range from increasing bilateral cooperation with Melanesian states to threatening to boycott some businesses over their support for West Papua.”

Indonesia’s Papuan provinces were incorporated into the country in 1969, when Indonesian authorities held a widely disputed referendum that ended seven years of UN administration following the departure of the Dutch colonial regime. An on-and-off conflict with local separatists of various stripes has endured since then, with the Indonesian military accused of atrocities amounting to genocide against the Papuan population.

Political prisoners

The Indonesian authorities aggressively prosecute any actions deemed supportive of independence, including jailing activists for raising West Papua’s “Morning Star” flag. The election of Joko Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi, to the Indonesian presidency in 2014 raised hopes of a thaw in the conflict. He promised to lift restrictions that forbade journalists from visiting the region on the campaign trail, but those hopes have largely been dashed.

While he did lift the bans, it is still difficult for reporters to access West Papua. Jakarta released several high-profile prisoners that had been in jail for years, but authorities still imprisoned up to 8,000 Papuans in mass temporary arrests over the last two years. Political prisoners like 27-year-old Yanto Awerkion, who was arrested last May in the coastal city of Timika while collecting signatures for the ULMWP petition, remain in jail with uncertain prospects for release.

“Jokowi would probably like to see these political prisoners released, but there have been more mass arrests,” says Dr. Jim Elmslie, co-founder of the West Papua Project at the University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. Harsono agrees, pointing out that the number of annual arrests has risen well into the thousands under the Jokowi administration.

War & peace

Activists fighting for independence in West Papua have operated under a variety of different armed and peaceful groups since 1969. While going through several periods of internal division, most have long operated under the umbrella of the Free Papua Movement, also known by its Indonesian acronym, OPM.

Activists fighting for independence in West Papua have operated under a variety of different armed and peaceful groups since 1969

The OPM’s armed wing, known as the TPN-PB, has long engaged in a low-level insurgency against the Indonesian military and police. Another target of its attacks has been the Phoenix-based mining company Freeport-McMoRan, which operates the enormous Grasberg gold and copper mine in the region’s western mountains. Indigenous Papuans living in nearby towns have long protested that they see receive little of the lucrative wealth produced, which instead finds its way to Freeport or officials in Jakarta.

The armed conflict escalated towards the end of 2017, when deadly clashes in November were followed by the Indonesian military accusing the TPN-PB of occupying several villages near Grasberg one month later. After the death of a leading TPN-PB commander in September, the group released a formal “declaration of war” against Indonesia in February this year.

“The TPN-PB stole two powerful guns from the Indonesian military near the mine in 2016,” says Elmslie. “That’s when the attacks started increasing, and after they declared war they blocked the road leading to the mine in Tembagapura.”

Melanesian support

The leaders behind the petition campaign brought together several disparate groups after the 2011 Papuan People’s Congress, going on to form the ULMWP three years later and enabling them to form a united front for the independence effort.

Its biggest platform for international support has been the Melanesian Spearhead Group, a regional forum for Melanesian countries. Citing the increased profile that MSG membership gave the FLNKS, a pro-independence party in New Caledonia, the ULMWP was grantedobserver status at the MSG summit in 2015 — but so was Indonesia, which became an associate member.

After presenting the independence petition to the UN, ULMWP leader Wenda renewed his efforts to gain full membership at the MSG summit in Port Moresby last February. Wenda gave a speech to leaders at the event, highlighting the movement’s progress on reforms demanded by the MSG before granting full membership. But with the Indonesian government placing its diplomatic weight behind regional allies like Fiji, the membership application was shelved for the foreseeable future.

“The West Papuan people continue to suffer brutality at the hands of oppressors every day,” said Wenda in a statement released before his speech. “We call on Melanesian leaders to acknowledge our political aspirations, to hear this cry for freedom.”

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