Bintang Papua, 9 November 2011Jayapura:  Pastor Neles Tebay, co-ordinator of the Papua Peace Network has stated today that he has received information that the central government is willing  to have a dialogue with the Papuan people. He said that the offer from the goverenment, by the Minister-Coordinator for Politics and Law  to enter into construction communications with the Papua people was welcome.

‘We Papuan people should welcome the constructive communications being offered by the government, as the way to resolve all the crucial problems in Papua. Even though it is not entirely clear,  the willingness  to communicate with the Papuan people is a sign of good will and means that the government is very concerned about Papua.’

However, he said that the government must explain to the Papuan people what it means by constructive communications, and what form the government intends this to take. Are there phases through which this will pass This needs to be clarified.

We have only been hearing recently about Constructive Communications without it being made clear what this means. This needs to be brought within the context with the perception of the Papuan people for entering into dialogue between Jakarta and Papua.

He said that a meeting should be held with the Papuan people who want dialogue. In such a meeting, it should be possible to clarify the substance of a Jakarta-Papua Dialogue and Constructive Communications. This meeting should discuss the format of dialogue and the format of constructive communication that would be acceptable to both sides.

He expressed his optimism that there will be a resolution to the problem for the Papua people.