Tag: Papuan marginalisation

Rajawali Group opens 10,000 ha for sugar beet in Paniai

JUBI, 9 December 2011
Abridged in translation by TAPOL

The Rajawali Group plans to open up 10,000 hectares in the district of Malind, Paniai for a sugar beet plantation. In preparation for the planting, seeds have already been brought from West Java after undergoing tests.

The manager of the Rajawali Group Abdul Wahab said that the seeds are currently being prepared in readiness for planting. The process should take six months but because of the heat in the past few months, it may take eight months.  Some of the seeds have dried up because of the heat.

The planting of sugar beet is planned to begin in 20112 but difficulties have arisen because of the unrealiability of some of the contractors. They are busy at the moment with construction work and road building which may require some adjustments.

Wahab also said that a factory will be built in 2012 and it is hoped that by 2014, the crop will have been harvested and we are able to produce red sugar. ‘This is the target for the company and it must be realised,’ he said.

COMMENT by Tapol

The item just posted about the Rajawali Group’s opening up of 10,000 hectares of land for the production of sugar beet in Malind district of Paniai fails to raise the issue of who holds proprietary rights over the land which the company plans to ‘open up’ for beet.

There is no indication about whether there are people who are now living on the land or whether it is an area where the Malind people hunt or fell trees to build houses or for fuel to cook their everyday meals.

Did Rajawali seek the permission of local communities that live on or use the land that the company plans to use for a beet plantation? Were the local communities who, we may assume, use the land for their homes or livelihoods, ever consulted about the use of the land or offered compensation? What will happen to people who currently live on this land? Will they be evicted or paid compensation for the seizure of their land?

Using the land for the cultivation of beet will require a considerable input of labour. Where will these labourers – and their families – come from? Will this require the influx of labour from outside Papua, thus shifting the demographic composition in favour of migrants from other parts of Indonesia and further intensifying the marginalisation of the Papuan people?

TAPOL

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Customary communities affirm their rights to land near Freeport Mine

JUBI, 11 November 2011Seven  customary communities living in the location of the Freeport-Indonesia PTFI mine have asserted their rights to land  in the location of the Freeport mine in a press release and called on the company to properly sort out the issue.

In a letter from the seven communities, co-ordinator the group, Markus Timang said:

‘We have read the Memorandum of Understanding between LEMASA (Customary Community of the Amungme people) and PTFI regarding human resources, social-economic resources, human rights, customary rights and the environment which was signed in New Orleans, USA on 13 July, 2000.’

In that agreement, the seven communities acknowledged the contemplations and discussions between the heads of the communities. With particular reference to Article 3 of the MoU regarding the rights and responsibilities of PTFI, the company acknowledged and respected the customary rights of the Amungme and Kamoro communities.

Timang said that  the communities have agreed that it is vital for the NKRI (Republic of Indonesia), the PTFI and the owners of the customary rights to ensure that all problems related to the PTFI should not be manipulated by elements who have no customary rights to the land. ‘It is our opinion that that the PTFI should not start reaching agreements about customary rights with persons who are not connected with the location. With regard to problems arising in connection with this land, the PTFI must make contact with those who are directly involved, including ourselves as customary owners of the land to ensure that the problem is properly, fairly  and justly handled.

In response to this affirmation, several customary community  leaders and social leaders in Timika have questioned why Markus Timang has issued such a statement without  reaching agreement with other, more elderly leaders. ‘We know nothing about all this. We need to have your confirmation whether indeed it was you who issued this statement,’ said Abraham Timang, executive assistant of LPMAK, the group responsible for managing the one-percent contribution from PTFI.

Furthermore, other customary leaders have raised questions with regard to community leaders who were involved in a joint agreement that was reached on 10 November this year.

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90% of children in Kamoro leave school before completing their education

JUBI, 8 September, 2011

It is estimated that around 90 percent of children from the Kamoro ethnic group fail to continue their education after completing primary school.   There are many reasons for this.

‘Many Kamoro children dont attend primary school and this affects the number who go on to further education as a result of selection and the minimum standards attained by the children,’ said a local official.

This also reflects the situation of the primary school in Mapar, in the regency of Central Mimika where most of the children who attend primary schools fail to continue to the lower secondary schools. The main problem is where the children live.

‘We do everything we can to motivate them and accompany them but for the
parents the main problem is that they cannot find anywhere to live in Timika. And in those cases where children do attend a school in the town, many of them returned home to their kampungs after only two months for a variety of reasons, primarily because of the cost of living in the town.’

Actually, there are indeed many opportunities for Kamoro children in Timika. Freeport Indonesia has built several hostels for primary and secondary school children but there are hardly any Kamoro children living in these hostels.

One secondary school teacher said: ‘There is the problem of looking after the children and the limited capacity available for pupils coming from the Kamar primary school. We very much hope that the education service will appreciate this problem and find a way out as soon as possible, so that these children can grow up to be masters in own land.’

———————

A number of teachers in the East Mimika district have complained about the lack of facilities for education at primary and secondary schools many of which have nothing in the way of books or writing equipment.

Veronica Lasol, a primary school teacher at the Mapar primary school, complained that the government, in particular the education and cultural service, pay no attention to all this.

‘We have been suffering from a lack of facilities for a long time, and have spoken about this with the media as well, hoping to draw the attention of the government to the problem of paying attention to education facilities for children living in the kampungs,’ she told Jubi.

‘In our district, almost all the schools are functioning without decent facilities and end up teaching the chidren anything they can mange to do so as to ensure that they can complete their primary school education,’ said Agustinus Maniawasi, a primary school teacher at the YPPK primary school in Pronggo, Mimika district.

Similar complaints were made by Denisius Faruan, a primary school teacher at a school in Timika. He said that there is a need for facilities to support the education of the children. If the teachers were to get the necessary training, the complaints would decline. ‘It is all a matter of giving proper attention to the schools that now exist.’

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JUBI: Conditions in Keerom very bad

JUBI, 1 August 2011

Conditions in Keerom are very bad

The Coalition for Justice, the Rule of Law, Human Rights and Public Service (K2PH2P2) has expressed its concern about conditions in the district of Keerom during the first months of this year.

It said that the governing body is far from being capable, responsive and accommodative. Government workers are largely incapable and unresponsive and lacking in discipline in their work. In a press release issued on 1 August in Abepura, a group of leaders including church leaders, civil society leaders and human rights activists expressed their fear that development in the district which was intended for transmigrants is stagnant.

‘Discipline in the civil service is very bad. They live in Jayapura, arrive in their offices at 9am and go home soon afterwards, which means that the service they provide is very bad,’ said Bonefasius A. Muenda of the Keerom Social Institution. Most of them live in Jayapura and arrive in their offices quite late in the morning. Even worse, some of the civil servants only go to their offices twice or three times a week. For the rest of the time, they stay at home.

But there are other problems as well, according to the Coalition. In education for example, Pastor John Jonga, a leader of the Catholic Church in Keerom, said that hundreds of children receive no attention at all because there are no teachers. He said this was more likely to be thousands of children, not hundreds. Ironically, billions of rupiahs are allocated to education but the children are waiting for their teachers.

‘In Towe Hitam, 36 members of the armed forces are paid for by the government but there are no teachers. This is a crime,’ said Pastor Jonga who is a recipient of the Yap Thien (Hien) award.

But that is not all. Medical facilities are worryingly poor in this new district that was set up just a few years ago. Another pastor, Eddy Togotly was of the opinion that there is no serious intention on the part of the government to develop Keerom. ‘People dont come to Keerom to help with development. On the contrary.’

Meanwhile, the chairman of commission A of the provincial legislative assembly, Yosep Turot, said that some officials are so far from adequate that they should be sacked from their jobs. He said that there are a number of reasons for this, including the purchase and sale of certificates among officials which has an impact on the performance of the government.

In view of all this, the Coalition is calling for the appointment of a new local government chief who should be credible, intelligent, creative and concerned about the conditions of the people.   And they say that the new chief should pay full attention to the performance of his staff so as to ensure that they work for the development of Keerom and not for their personal interests.’

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Breaking News: Strike at Freeport’s Grasberg Mine Ends

Grasberg mine
Image via Wikipedia

 http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2011/07/12/brk,20110712-346056,uk.html

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:A week long strike that left Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg mine in Papua shuttered and paralyzed has come to an end. Freeport Indonesia’s spokesman Ramdani Sirait confirmed at midnight that an agreement had been reached with the PT Freeport Indonesia union to end the strike which began on July 4 and led to a suspension of mining and milling activities.

“Under the agreement, negotiations for the upcoming collective labor agreement, scheduled for renewal in October 2011, will commence. The agreement provides that employees will begin reporting to their positions on Tuesday, July 12, 2011,” Ramdani said in a text message, received by TEMPO English Edition at 12. a.m. on Tuesday,

“The agreement was the result of collaboration by representatives of the union, the Mimika Regency Legislative Council (DPRD) and PTFI.”

The strike ran from July 4 till July 11 at the mine, as leaders of the workers’ labor union had refusing to negotiate, pointing out that any sort of compromise was only a possibility with US-based Freeport chairman James Moffett. The Grasberg mine is one of the world’s biggest sources of copper and gold.

A total of 8,000 of the 19,500 workers employed at the Grasberg mine would continue this strike , according to labor union leaders last Saturday evening, until they knew their wages had been increased sufficiently. Previous media reports have pointed out a demand for an increase from $1.50 to $3 per hour.


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