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Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali | Sun, 10/23/2011 9:50 AM
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Coincidence or not, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Indonesia’s defense and military decision makers and US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta are all now in Bali at a time when Papua is in turmoil and US gold and copper giant Freeport is facing new threats in the province.
With Panetta planned to meet Yudhoyono either on Sunday morning or the following day and a confirmation that Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro would meet Panetta on Sunday afternoon on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting, speculation has circulated that Papua and Freeport would become the key topics of the discussion.
“We are now trying to find time for the meeting. I think if we cannot do it on Sunday morning then it most probably happen on Monday,” Presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Saturday.
Faizasyah, however, denied any connection between Panetta’s visit and what has happened in Papua in recent days.
“It [Yudhoyono-Panetta planned meeting] has been arranged at least two weeks before,” he said.
While conditions in Papua, coupled with Jakarta’s failure to address problems, there have been rising demands for independence. Analysts have agreed that the US, which has an interest to keep Freeport operations secure, played a significant role in making Papua an international issue, resembling what has happened in Timor Leste prior to 1999.
“As long as Papua’s problems are not solved, Freeport’s operations will continue to be under threat. This is the US’ biggest concern,” University of Indonesia international relations expert Hariyadi Wirawan said.
“I think this will be one of the topics that will be discussed when Pak Presiden or Pak Purnomo and Panetta meet, although it will not be disclosed to the public,” he said.
Hariyadi warned that Indonesia should offer concrete ways to solve Papua’s problems to prevent the US from taking drastic steps, including sending its own soldiers to guard Freeport or even question before an international event, Indonesia’s approach to handling problems in the province and turning the issue into an international concern.
“We don’t know if all the incidents in Papua have been designed in coincidence with Panetta’s visit or ahead of Obama’s planned visit in November, but the visits have given the momentum,” he said.
At least 11 people have been killed in Papua in recent weeks after riot at the Freeport mine site in Timika and pro-independence campaign in the province’s capital of Jayapura in the last two weeks.
After three people were shot to death on Wednesday in Jayapura, unidentified gunmen killed another three people in Timika, the nearest town to the world’s largest copper and gold reserve, on Friday.
A contract worker of PT Freeport Indonesia, a local unit of US gold and copper giant Freeport-McMoRan, was killed along with two local residents of Timika, some 450 kilometers west of Jayapura, or around 3,000 kilometers east of Jakarta.
In 1967, four years after Indonesia annexed Papua from the Dutch, Freeport opened the region’s first gold and copper mining operation at the Grasberg mine near Timika.
A recent string of deadly incidents in the country’s most remote and underdeveloped province probably constitutes the most serious situation the region has faced in the past 10 years, culminating in the deadly incident as the police tried to disperse Papuan tribes gathered in Jayapura over a congress after they declared an independent Papua.
Jakarta was quick to justify their tough actions against the declaration, stating that there was no justification or compromise for such an act.
However, academics warned that the government must learn that violence would never solve problems, but could probably only worsen conditions, pointing to the series of killings in then East Timor province, including the Santa Cruz’s killings, which culminated in the creation of Timor Leste.
“Jakarta must pursue dialogues seen as genuine, honest and sincere by the Papuans. We, the academics, are ready to help with inputs for the government. Hopefully, we can offer fresh and breakthrough inputs to solve the problems,” Hariyadi said.
With Panetta planned to meet Yudhoyono either on Sunday morning or the following day and a confirmation that Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro would meet Panetta on Sunday afternoon on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting, speculation has circulated that Papua and Freeport would become the key topics of the discussion.
“We are now trying to find time for the meeting. I think if we cannot do it on Sunday morning then it most probably happen on Monday,” Presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Saturday.
Faizasyah, however, denied any connection between Panetta’s visit and what has happened in Papua in recent days.
“It [Yudhoyono-Panetta planned meeting] has been arranged at least two weeks before,” he said.
While conditions in Papua, coupled with Jakarta’s failure to address problems, there have been rising demands for independence. Analysts have agreed that the US, which has an interest to keep Freeport operations secure, played a significant role in making Papua an international issue, resembling what has happened in Timor Leste prior to 1999.
“As long as Papua’s problems are not solved, Freeport’s operations will continue to be under threat. This is the US’ biggest concern,” University of Indonesia international relations expert Hariyadi Wirawan said.
“I think this will be one of the topics that will be discussed when Pak Presiden or Pak Purnomo and Panetta meet, although it will not be disclosed to the public,” he said.
Hariyadi warned that Indonesia should offer concrete ways to solve Papua’s problems to prevent the US from taking drastic steps, including sending its own soldiers to guard Freeport or even question before an international event, Indonesia’s approach to handling problems in the province and turning the issue into an international concern.
“We don’t know if all the incidents in Papua have been designed in coincidence with Panetta’s visit or ahead of Obama’s planned visit in November, but the visits have given the momentum,” he said.
At least 11 people have been killed in Papua in recent weeks after riot at the Freeport mine site in Timika and pro-independence campaign in the province’s capital of Jayapura in the last two weeks.
After three people were shot to death on Wednesday in Jayapura, unidentified gunmen killed another three people in Timika, the nearest town to the world’s largest copper and gold reserve, on Friday.
A contract worker of PT Freeport Indonesia, a local unit of US gold and copper giant Freeport-McMoRan, was killed along with two local residents of Timika, some 450 kilometers west of Jayapura, or around 3,000 kilometers east of Jakarta.
In 1967, four years after Indonesia annexed Papua from the Dutch, Freeport opened the region’s first gold and copper mining operation at the Grasberg mine near Timika.
A recent string of deadly incidents in the country’s most remote and underdeveloped province probably constitutes the most serious situation the region has faced in the past 10 years, culminating in the deadly incident as the police tried to disperse Papuan tribes gathered in Jayapura over a congress after they declared an independent Papua.
Jakarta was quick to justify their tough actions against the declaration, stating that there was no justification or compromise for such an act.
However, academics warned that the government must learn that violence would never solve problems, but could probably only worsen conditions, pointing to the series of killings in then East Timor province, including the Santa Cruz’s killings, which culminated in the creation of Timor Leste.
“Jakarta must pursue dialogues seen as genuine, honest and sincere by the Papuans. We, the academics, are ready to help with inputs for the government. Hopefully, we can offer fresh and breakthrough inputs to solve the problems,” Hariyadi said.
