IRIAN JAYA (WEST PAPUA, NEW GUINEA): THE QUEST FOR INDEPENDENCE-JANUARY 1, 2001 THROUGH JANUARY 14, 2001

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JANUARY 1, 2001 TO JANUARY 14, 2001

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Date: 1/14/01 6:12:33 PM Central Standard Time
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The Jakarta Post.com
National News
January 14, 2001
All Navy plane crash fatalities buried

JAKARTA (JP): Nine victims of the Navy Cassa U-614 plane, which
crashed in the remote mountainous village of Silimo, Jayawijaya,
Irian Jaya on Monday were buried in different cities on Saturday.

Trikora Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Tonny A. Rompis and Irian
Jaya Prosecutors' Office head Bismar Mannu were buried at Jakarta's
hero cemetery of Kalibata, while speaker of the Irian Jaya
legislative council Nathaniel Kaywai and governor adjutant police
Chief brigadier Jeheskia Z. were buried at the Kusuma hero cemetery
in Abepura, Jayapura.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto led the military
ceremony for the funerals of Tonny at the Jakarta Kalibata hero
cemetery. Jakarta Bishop Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, acting as
the TNI's bishop, led the last prayer for Tonny.

Thirty minutes later Attorney General Marzuki Darusman led the
funeral ceremony of Bismar at the same cemetery, while the
military-style funerals of Nathaniel and Jeheskia in Jayapura were
led by chief of Jayapura Police Operation and Control Command Sr.
Comr. Kusnadi.

Bismar, who had served duty for over 28 years, was posthumously
promoted to chief prosecutor, the highest rank in the force.
Jeheskia was also posthumously promoted to Second Adj. Insp.

In Yogyakarta, Deputy National Police chief Comr. Gen. Panji
Atmasudirja, on behalf of National Police chief Gen. Surojo
Bimantoro, led the ceremony for the funeral of Insp. Gen. FX.
Sumardi, the Irian Jaya Police chief at the Kusuma Negara hero
cemetery.

During the ceremony Panji announced that Sumardi was awarded
Bhayangkara Pratama Star for his life time service. "The star was
awarded based on a Presidential Decree on January 11," he said.

Meanwhile, the body of Maj. Sutopo Waluyo, the pilot of the
ill-fated Cassa, was buried at the hero cemetery in the small town
of Tuban in East Java, while the First Lt. Dedi Haryanto, the
co-pilot, was buried at Kusuma Bangsa hero cemetery in Surabaya.

First. Sgt. Sultan and Ordinary Seaman Gunawan, the plane
technicians were buried at public cemeteries in Sidoarjo and
Blitar, also East Java, respectively. The funeral of Sultan was
conducted as soon as the body arrived at Surabaya's Juanda airport
on Friday night.

Before the burials, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri was seen
to pay homage to Tonny at his residence, after going to the
Attorney General's Office to join a special ceremony to pray for
Bismar.

Tonny and Bismar's funerals were also attended by Military chief
Adm. Widodo AS, and Attorney General Marzuki Darusman, Coordinating
Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, former attorney generals Andi M. Ghalib and Ismudjoko.

Also present at the funerals were Air Force chief Marshall Hanafie
Asnan, and the Deputy of Navy chief Vice Adm. Fred S. Lonan,
Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut B. Panjaitan, and the State
Minister for Administrative Reform Ryaas Rasyid.

The fate

"This (the death) was predestined, yet my husband hadn't given any
prior signs that he would leave us forever," Tonny's wife Syane
Wuisan said in a soft and deep voice after receiving the Red and
White National flag, which was used to cover the coffin, from
Endriartono and Widodo.

She sat along with her three children in front of Tonny's new
grave.

"We, all of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) big family have lost
one of its best soldier," Endriartono said after the ceremony.

Endriartono said, the Army had yet to decide on anyone to replace
Tonny. "Some candidates have been proposed to be examined in the
Council for High Ranking Promotion and Duty Rotation in April."

"The new officer must be as qualified as him (Tonny), with a clear
concept and good understanding in handling specific troubled
territories like Irian Jaya."

Separately Marzuki also said that he would soon appoint a new
official to replace Bismar.

Bismar, born in Bone, South Sulawesi, was officially promoted as
prosecutor in 1972 to Makassar office, South Sulawesi and had
mostly served in intelligence affairs until 1995.

Bismar was assigned to the head of Irian Jaya Prosecutors' Office
on July 28, 2000.

In Yogyakarta, thousands of people attended Sumardi's funeral.
Among the attendants were governor of National Police Academy
Inspector General Dai Bachtiar, Sumardi's classmate in the academy.
They both passed the academy in 1972.

Walking on the left-hand side of Sumardi's coffin to the cemetery,
Bachtiar hid his sadness.

Other prominent police figures attending Sumardi's burial were,
among others, inspector general of the National Police Headquarters
Comr. Gen. Nurdin S., Central Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Ansjaad
Mbai, and Yogyakarta Police Chief Brig. Gen. Logan Siagian.

Inspector General of the Diponegoro (Central Java) Military Command
May. Gen. Soemarsono, the Diponegoro Military Command Chief of
Staff, Brig. Gen. Djoko Santosa were also at hand.

Thousands of people who wanted to pay their last respects to
Sumardi blocked Jl. Kusuma Negara, where the hero cemetery is
located. Traffic was totally jammed. (02/23/35/bby/sur)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
January 14, 2001
The dangers of flying over Irian
By I. Christianto and Pandaya

JAKARTA (JP): Imagine this. You are one of nine people flying a
light plane over the virgin jungle of mountainous Irian Jaya. It is
your maiden voyage by plane over the territory notorious amongst
many high flyers for its rough mountainous terrain, unpredictable
weather patterns and untouched wilderness.

While the light plane undertakes roller coaster type maneuvers
between perpendicular ravines at 10,000 feet, a rainstorm suddenly
looms large ahead. What would your pilot possibly do? If he is wise
and well-versed with the topography and weather patterns of Irian
Jaya, he would make a U-turn and head straight for a nearby
airstrip or the airport of origin.

It is these natural features that have been blamed for the recent
crash on Trikora Peak, Jaya Wijaya regency, of the Navy's CASA NC
212 that killed all nine people aboard. The wreckage was found
scattered at the height of 11,800 feet (3,597 meter) where
temperature was minus five degrees Celsius.

For daredevil pilots, Irian Jaya with its airstrips and small
airports lacking in adequate facilities it is an exciting airspace
to satisfy their adventurous spirits. But for people unfamiliar
with the area, flying a plane there would most probably send a
chill down their spine.

The Irianese mountain peaks and steep slopes that one has to pass
through when flying from Timika in the south to the north eastern
capital of Jayapura are particularly "challenging" for
lesser-experienced pilots in Irian Jaya.

There are hundreds of peaks with near perpendicular walls that
light planes would find difficult passing through, especially when
it is cloudy or rainy. Tropical Irian Jaya is highly humid with an
annual average rainfall of 5,500 millimeter.

Light planes have become the only mode of transportation to connect
outlying areas of the sparsely populated province in the absence of
roads and presence of rivers which can only be obviously used for
water transport.

Seasoned pilots of light planes familiar with flying a plane in
Irian Jaya have thrilling and stomach-churning Hollywood-style
stories to tell.

Unpredictable
Djoko Toret, 45, is a senior pilot of state-owned Merpati Nusantara
Airlines, who used to be based in Biak between 1980 and 1990 to
serve feeder routes in the region. As part of its social mission,
Merpati serves both feeder and commercial routes.

"From the western tip town of Sorong, until the center of the
island, there is a mountain range. Peaks stand close to each other
and weather is unpredictable, making flights risky," Djoko, who
flew a Twin-Otter plane, told The Jakarta Post.

Light planes like Twin Otters are seen as the best choice in Irian
Jaya because the aircraft can take off and land on very simple
airstrips.

As this sort of plane doesn't have a sophisticated navigation
system, don't have even consider becoming a pilot in Irian Jaya if
you didn't first have a very good visual ability.

The pilot has to be constantly on the look out for changing weather
patterns and topography, mountains, gaps and valleys. The "check
points" are often deceptive because gaps and ravines look similar.

"On many occasions we have to fly through ravines or spaces between
mountains to reach destinations. A slight mistake may end up in the
plane hitting a mountainside," Djoko said.

For instance, he said, there are two routes when flying from the
mining city of Timika in the southwest of Irian Jaya, to Wamena,
the capital of Jayawijaya district.

One is via the Enarotali Lake and Baliem Valley, and the other is
via the South gap. The latter route is much more challenging as the
flight must follow a mountainous line and there are many identical
gaps.

According to Djoko, the Timika-Jayapura route is especially tough.

"I am greatly sympathetic to the recent incident on the Navy CASA
NC-212 aircraft. But I think every pilot flying in the Irian region
must have gained equally special training and exercises as I
managed to get in Merpati," he said.

Wreckage of the ill-fated 16-seat Casa NC-212 turbo-prop was found
by two pilots of the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), Harry
Berghuis and Tom Hans, who flew a Bell Jet Ranger 201.

The cause of the crash is not yet entirely clear. The plane's pilot
Maj. Sutopo Waluyo, a deputy chief of Squadron 600 and co-pilot
First Lt. Deddy Haryanto, were believed to be very experienced as
they had been posted in Irian Jaya for about six years.

It is believed that the CASA aircraft took the wrong gap when it
attempted to enter Wamena from the South Gap, where there are
numerous gaps with similar features.

MAF has long become the backbone of air transport in the Irian Jaya
hinterland.

A German-born MAF pilot, Alexander Bruecki, 31, told Kompas that
pilots serving in Irian Jaya should have good knowledge of the
ever-changing weather there.

Bruecki, who flies a Cessna and usually carries three to five
missionaries and locals, has spent five years in different parts of
Irian Jaya.

MAF has six foreign pilots and one Irian man for its nine fleet of
nine planes. Fellowship officials apply strict rules for the
planes' maintenance. Every aircraft undergoes thorough checks after
50-100 hours of flying.

The Casa NC-212 plane was made by Bandung-based PT Dirgantara
Indonesia (previously IPTN) in collaboration with CASA of Spain.
The ill-fated plane was manufactured some 16 years ago. Prior to
this incident, five other Casa aircraft of that type have crashed
at various locations in the country.

Weather
For Djoko, the high and numerous mountain peaks are not the major
challenge. The real danger is the quick changing weather.

Whenever rain starts to falls or thick clouds or fog suddenly
appear, the pilot has to quickly ascend and fly higher to a safer
altitude for better vision, he said.

The pilot is then able to decide whether the plane can proceed to
its destination or not. To return without ascending would not be
possible as the plane might be trapped in a narrow gap.

"I have often faced a sudden change in weather conditions. It
suddenly starts to rain or I become trapped in clouds," he said.

Bad weather is usually most disruptive when he is flying low.

Light planes are usually not pressure resistant. Light planes like
Casa NC-212, Twin Otters, Cessnas are not usually well equipped
with enough oxygen when flying at higher altitudes. Normally, light
planes fly at an altitude of between 8,000 feet and 10,000 feet,
though the engines allow flying to occur up to 25,000 feet.

According to Djoko, taking off and landing on most runways in Irian
Jaya was also a great challenge. The load has to be calculated
carefully according to the size of the runway at the place of
destination.

Residents of Irian Jaya, he said, remember fondly one incident when
they had to voluntarily pull out a plane trapped in a swamp after
landing.

Throughout his 10-year assignment in Irian Jaya he has enjoyed warm
relations with locals.

"I have learned that flight is the only means of transportation,
but it is not possible to impose even higher fares for them as they
don't earn high wages. They are mostly small traders, teachers,
civil servants and social workers who need transportation," he
said.

Light planes like the Casa NC-212, Twin Otter, Cessna are most
suitable for most runways in Irian Jaya which are only about 600
meters long.

There are some 40 runways in Irian Jaya.

Captain Wuri Septiawan, also of Merpati, advises that aircraft
operating in Irian must get proper maintenance.

"Technology wise, a Casa NC-212 plane is equipped with radar, radio
altimeter and so on. But when there are many passengers, the plane
is not able to ascend as it is not cabin-pressurized," he said.

Bad weather has caused several plane crashes. Accidents in Irian
Jaya have involved a medium-body aircraft Fokker-28 of MNA in July
1993 and HS748 of Bouraq in August 1995.

Date: 1/12/01 5:26:06 PM Central Standard Time
From: admin@irja.org
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The Jakarta Post.com
National News
January 12, 2001
Crash victims' bodies still not evacuated

TIMIKA, Irian Jaya (JP): Bad weather hampered efforts to move the
bodies of nine victims from the Navy's Cassa plane accident site on
Thursday amid official preparations to honor the deceased in their
cities of origin.

The Jakarta Post's correspondent reported from Timika on Thursday
that rescue team members had managed to separate all nine bodies
from the wreckage, despite difficulties encountered when trying to
free four of the victims.

Rescuers required the use of saws and other equipment in the
operation, which lasted until 5:10 p.m. local time when all four
bodies were finally removed from the wreckage.

However, the rescuers failed to fully evacuate the bodies which
include: Trikora Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Tonny A. Rompis,
Irian Jaya Police chief Insp. Gen. FX. Sumardi, speaker of the
Irian Jaya Legislative Council Nathaniel Kaywai, pilot Maj. Sutopo
Waluyo, co-pilot First Lt. Dedi Haryanto, adjutant to the Irian
Jaya governor police Sgt. Maj. Jeheskia Z., head of the Irian Jaya
Prosecutors' Office Bismar Mannu, technicians First Sgt. Sultan,
and Ordinary Seaman Gunawan.

Nine tables were prepared for the bodies in a hangar at the Timika
airport, as well as a ceremony to mark their arrival.

A cortege of police and Army personnel was also assembled at the
airport to officially escort the bodies in the planned military
ceremony.

Deputy Chief of the Army Lt. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri, Deputy Chief of
the Navy Vice Adm. Fred Salem Lonan and Deputy Chief National
Police Insp. Gen. Pandji Atmasudirdja are now in Timika to attend
the evacuation. They said they would stay in Timika until all the
of the deceased were transported there.

Trikora Military Command Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. K. Ralahalo, who
led the operation, said all evacuation efforts had to be halted at
about 10 a.m. due to bad weather. "We'll resume the operation early
tomorrow (Friday)."

He said that the rescuers required oxygen masks during the
evacuation operation and had to use saws to free four bodies from
the wreckage.

The location of the crash is known as Trikora peak in the
mountainous Silimo area.

Unlike other regions, most mountains and cliffs in Jayawijaya have
sharp slopes with gradients of up to 80 degrees.

National Search and Rescue Agency operational unit chief First Adm.
(ret) Sukapdjioto, who was also in Timika, said it was hard to
breathe at such a high altitude of 11,800 feet, even though the
rescuers were using oxygen masks.

The ill-fated Navy Cassa U-614 crashed during its flight from
Timika to Jayapura on Monday. There have been no clues as to why
the plane crashed in an area 11,800 feet above sea level, between
the villages of Palimo and Silimo in the regency of Jayawijaya.

"As the plane had no black box, the Navy Headquarters in Jakarta
will be working to identify the cause of the accident," Ralahalo
said, referring to the Cassa N212 made by an Indonesian aircraft
manufacture company in Bandung, West Java.

Funeral
Latest reports from Timika stated that all military and police
officers killed in the accident would be buried at Jakarta's
Kalibata Hero Cemetery.

The body of Nathaniel will be transported directly to Jayapura.

Meanwhile, National Police chief. Gen. Soerojo Bimantoro is
scheduled to lead the funeral of FX. Sumardi at the Kusumanegara
Hero Cemetery in Yogyakarta on Friday (today).

The plan is still unchanged, despite the fact that the victims'
bodies have yet to be evacuated from the crash site.

Eka, one of Soemardi's three children, told reporters on Thursday,
"We plan to have my father buried soon after his body arrives."
Sumardi was born in Gunung Kidul regency, Yogyakarta.

Antara news agency reported on Thursday that Tonny A. Rompis'
family had been informed about the funeral.

According to plans announced earlier, Tonny will be buried at the
Cikutra Hero Cemetery in Bandung.

Ronald, Tonny's first son, said from the family's residence in the
Puri Kembangan housing complex in Jakarta, that the funeral in
Kalibata was planned for Friday (today). "But we are waiting for
the latest reports from Wamena."

Families of the victims and thousands of Jayapura residents have
been waiting since Wednesday for the evacuation of the bodies.

Government offices and residents' houses in Jayapura hoisted the
national flag at half-mast on Thursday following instructions from
Irian Jaya Governor JP Salossa on Wednesday. (35/edt/sur)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indonesian Observer
Saturday, January 13 - 2001
Nine bodies of ill-fated CN-212 plane evacuated

JAKARTA (IO) =97 Search and Rescue (SAR) team yesterday managed to
evacuate all bodies of victims of the ill-fated navy plane which
crashed on Monday in the mountainous jungle of Jayawijaya regency,
Irian Jaya province, after several-day delays due to inclement
weather.

Nine bodies, wrapped in plastic bags, arrived at an airport in the
Irian Jaya town of Timika at 9:20 am local time yesterday after
being flown by helicopters from the crash site.

Antara reported that the bodies were later taken to one of the
rooms beside an AirFast hangar for a final check before being
placed in coffins.

A police medical team later carried out an autopsy on the nine
bodies.

The nine bodies were Irian Jaya Military Commander Maj. Gen. Tonny
A. Rompis, Irian Jaya Parliament Speaker Nataniel Kaiway, Irian
Jaya Police Chief Insp. Gen. FX Sumardi, head of the local
prosecutors office Bismar Mannu, Irian Jaya governor=92s staff Hiskai
Jitmau, Pilot Maj. Sutopo Waluyo, Co-pilot First Lt. Dedy Haryanto,
and two crew members Gunawan and Sutan.

The bodies were handed over by the head of the search and rescue
team, who is also the Irian Jaya military chief of staff Brig. Gen.
Karel R. to Irian Jaya Governor JP Solassa at a ceremony before
they were taken from Timika to Jayapura, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and
Surabaya.

The bodies of Rompis and Mannu were flown by a Hercules plane to
Jakarta.

On board was Deputy Army Chief Lt. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri.

Their coffins arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma airbase in Jakarta at
21.10.

Present at the arrival were National Defense Forces (TNI) Commander
Adm. Widodo AS, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman and relatives of
the victims.

Another Hercules plane headed to Yogyakarta and Surabaya carrying
the bodies of Soemardi, Maj. Sutopo Waluyo, Deddy Haryanto, and two
crew. The plane left Timika on 17.10.

The bodies of Kaiway and Jitmau were expected to leave Timika for
Jayapura on board a PT Freeport airplane.

The Indonesian-built Casa 212 plane lost contact with the airport
tower at Jayapura=92s Sentani airbase on Monday, about an hour before
it was due to arrive on a flight from the province=92s southwest
mining city of Timika, near a giant copper and gold mine operated
by PT Freeport Indonesia, a unit of the US-based Freeport McMoran
Copper & Gold Inc.

It was later found in a village located in the mountainous region
of the Jayawijaya regency on Wednesday.

There are few roads and air travel has become the only reliable
form of transport in the resource- rich region, which covers
422,000 sq.km.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scopeonet.com
Jakarta, 12-01-2001 07:44:03 WIB
President suspects human error behind Irian Jaya plane crash
Reporter : Ang

JAKARTA, skopeonet.com - President Abdurrahman Wahid said here
Thursday he suspected the recent Navy Cassa plane crash that killed
nine people in a remote part of Irian Jaya was caused by human
error.

"The aircraft was not equipped with radar so it should have flown
close to the coastline. As it was, it flew at an altitude of 15,000
feet and dropped to 14,000 feet. It was human error," Wahid told
newsmen after a cabinet meeting.

Wahid did not explain what he meant by "human error" in the
accident involving an aircraft made by state-owned PT Dirgantara
Indonesia, known in the past as IPTN (Nusantara Aircraft Industry).
The ill-fated aircraft took off from Timika airport in Mimika
subdistrict at 10:25 a.m. on Monday and headed to Jayapura, Irian
Jaya=92s provincial capital.

It was carrying a number of top-ranking Irian Jaya provincial
administration officials who had attended the installation of the
Enarotali district legislative body in the town of the same name.
They were originally also scheduled to accompany Irian Jaya
Governor Jaap Salossa on a visit to the town of Sorong but the
visit was cancelled as Salossa was summoned to Jakarta by President
Abdurrahman Wahid.

The top provincial administration officials who died in the crash
were Trikora Military Command chief Maj Gen Tonny Rompis, Irian
Jaya Police chief Inspector Gen FX Soemardi, Irian Jaya=92s chief
public prosecutor Bismar Mannu and the chairman of the Irian Jaya
Provincial Legislative Assembly, Nataniel Kaywai. The pilot,
co-pilot and other members of the crew were also killed..
[Ant]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of
Hawai=91i

Refugees From West Papua Need Homes
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
(January 12, 2001 =96 Radio Australia)

The Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea says it hopes a solution
will be found today on where to locate about 400 West Papuans who
have crossed the border and now are in Vanimo.

The people left their country to escape political problems in the
Indonesian province of West Papua (Irian Jaya).

The Bishop of PNG's West Sepik Province, Cesare Boniventu, said the
West Papuans are living at a church-run primary school.

Bishop Boniventu said he hopes the government will decide on a
suitable location, until they are granted refugee status.

"They cannot go yet to that place call Blackwater, because it is
identified as the traditional place for refugees, recognized
refugees," he said.

"Now their status is not yet of refugees. They are still border
crossers, so the government must find another place suitable for
them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Received from Joyo Indonesian News

Australian Financial Review
Thursday, January 11, 2001
-front page-
Irian Jaya's New Player Makes Grab For Limelight
By Rowan Callick

East Timor's Jose Ramos-Horta laid down the template for winning
independence from Indonesia. First set up shop in a neighbouring
country.

Then lurk, irritate, cajole, take up every two-bit speaking invite,
schmooze the media, churches and non-government organisations.
Above all, internationalise the cause.

Enter the new boy on the block: Franzalbert Joku, super-articulate
in both English and Bahasa Indonesian.

He may not win a Nobel Prize like his East Timorese counterpart,
whom he met recently with Xanana Gusmao at the United Nations,
where they avidly swapped notes, but Joku has rapidly become a
crucial player in troubled Irian Jaya, which is emerging as the new
testing ground for Australian regional policy.

In his first major interview, he told The Australian Financial
Review that East Timor-style anti-independence militias were
already being established by military elements in preparation for a
violent endgame.

Joku will become a familiar figure to Australians over the coming
months and years.

He carries the unwieldy title of international affairs moderator of
the presidium of the Dewan Papua, the Papua Council, that has for
the first time in 40 years united the independence movement of
Irian Jaya.

But he is light on his feet, shuttling his office with his laptop
between Australia, where he has family members, Papua New Guinea,
of which he is a citizen, and surreptitiously Indonesia.

His assignment is to be the voice and face of his movement to the
world.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, has declined to
meet him so far.

But Joku may come to haunt Downer anyway, turning up like Banquo's
ghost as the ubiquitous uninvited guest, his stories and stances
feeding unwelcome and prickly questions at any meeting, seminar or
press conference touching on Indonesia or the region in general.

He comes from a chiefly family from Sentani, near the Irian Jayan
capital of Jayapura, in the north-eastern corner of the province.

The family fled, in dramatic circumstances, to Papua New Guinea,
where Joku was the founding editor of the crusading Times of PNG,
and more recently worked as chief of staff for Sir Julius Chan when
he was Prime Minister.

His first big coup in his new career as globe-trotting campaigner
and student statesman was to take a prominent behind-the-scenes
role as a delegate of tiny Nauru, in the annual leaders' meeting of
the Pacific Islands Forum, in Kiribati in October.

There, he flew the morning star independence flag, and secured a
place for the Irian Jaya issue in the forum's final communique.

He has come a long way from Sentani. But he is now assiduously
working his way back home.

For the present, he is formally barred from entering Irian Jaya,
which he can view from the PNG side of the border that stretches
almost 900km down the centre of the New Guinea island.

Joku was born in 1953, the eldest son in a family of eight
children. When his father died a dozen years ago, he succeeded him
as chief.

As a young boy, he used to sneak out of bed to listen to the adults
talking and planning very often, on the theme of independence. =93I
grew up knowing nothing else but West Papuan politics.''

Joku remembers clearly the first mass arrests in his village.

=93Then when my father was released after his first period in
custody, he was so badly beaten that we only recognised him by the
way he walked towards our house.''

Further spells in and out of military jails followed. Finally, his
father decided to get away.

He walked the 60 km to Wutung, just across the border in PNG, where
the then Australian authorities granted him political asylum
remarkably swiftly.

Then the security forces began coming around to interrogate Joku's
mother.

A month later, anxious about the entire family's future, she woke
the eight children, the youngest just 18 months old, before dawn
and led them down a track to the sea, where relatives had arranged
a motorised canoe for them.

The six-hour voyage to Vanimo in PNG was =93a lonely and terrible
journey'', said Joku, who the day before had spent his first day at
high school. The family was swiftly reunited with the father.

=93That was the turning point,'' he said, =93the event that gave us a
new future.''

The family then began a trek around PNG: to Wewak, to Manus island,
to Sangara near Kokoda, and finally to Port Moresby.

Joku won a scholarship to Rabaul international high school. There,
as Australia was grappling with the future of its colony, Joku met
some of PNG's most prominent independence campaigners, including
John Kaputin, Oscar Tammur, and Julius Chan, with whom he was later
to work closely.

Joku said: =93My father told my older sister and me: `If you want to
feel the heat of the fire, get closer. Get to the heart of the
political action', which was the capital.''

He won a Bougainville Copper Ltd scholarship to the University of
PNG, but halfway through his course PNG became independent, in
1975, =93and the excitement and the enthusiasm for nation building
swept me into journalism''.

=93Those were bittersweet days,'' he said. =93Bitter, because nothing
was happening on the other side of the border, but sweet to be part
of the independence of our fellow Melanesians in PNG.

=93We are starting to have our run now.''

His father set up a small business in Port Moresby, with the help
of an Australian school teacher Joku had met at Rabaul, which just
earned enough to support the family.

In 1976, they became PNG citizens. Some fellow Irianese hung back,
determined to await the opportunity to become citizens of a free
West Papua, but Joku's father insisted that a permanent status was
a source of strength, and he preferred to be a Papua New Guinean
than an Indonesian.

Inevitably, the independence movement fragmented in exile, with
many of the early leaders being driven overseas between 1962, when
the Indonesians seized control, and 1998 when the activists began
to form a common front, excited by the downfall of the Soeharto
dynasty and later by East Timor's escape from the Jakarta fold.

=93I hung back as Indonesia divided and ruled,'' said Joku. =93I also
wanted to be rid of the `refugee' or `political activist' tag from
which others in my family suffered, so I deliberately steered clear
of lobbying, or even running stories about the struggle in The
Times when I became an editor.''

He believes that one day a form of union between PNG and Irian Jaya
is likely. =93In a fast growing global community we can't afford to
remain in our own separate hamlets.''

Joku returned to Irian Jaya for the first time in 23 years, in
1986. He arrived illegally, was deported, returned by canoe, and
was then permitted to stay a fortnight after relatives with the
local administration made representations.

On his return to Port Moresby, he reported to his father that
things were not looking good. Already, transmigrasi sponsored
settlers and other arrivals from elsewhere in Indonesia were
marginalising the indigenous Melanesians.

Today, the Melanesian population of fewer than 2 million comprises
just over half the total in the province.

The Jokus agreed that the independence movement had to be rebuilt
from within, and Franzalbert's father and mother returned, with
visas; the Indonesians were and are keen to see refugees return, to
placate doubters.

Quietly, the Jokus worked to patch up differences, especially with
Theys Eluay, another paramount chief, who had been viewed as
pro-Indonesian, having served three consecutive five-year terms in
the Indonesian provincial assembly.

Today, Eluay is the chairman of the Papua Council and has been
detained by the Indonesians, with other council leaders.

Joku's father died in 1989, and is buried at the ancestral burial
ground on Lake Sentani. Joku then returned for threee years to
Irian Jaya, arousing suspicion among some Irianese that he was
conceding to Indonesia.

=93I felt then that if we allowed Indonesian rule to continue, we
were destined to die out destined for genocide within 60 to 70
years.''

Joku, who returned frustrated to PNG in 1992, was elected chairman
of the Irianese community in PNG and the Pacific in 1999. But he
acknowledged the leadership of the overall movement within Irian
Jaya itself, and flew to Holland, where many exiles had settled, to
persuade them to take the same line.

=93I didn't succeed instantly, but felt the message was
registering.''

In June 1999, at a meeting at Eluay's house, Joku proposed that
they return to the structure and symbols of 1961, when the Irianese
had claimed independence as the Dutch colonisers prepared to quit:
the morning star flag and national anthem, and the Dewan Papua
incorporating representatives from all major Melanesian groups.

=93I said this would bind us together as a multilingual, multitribal
organisation. The embryo of the council, re-formed after 38 years,
was hatched then.''

The idea gathered ground as representatives talked with groups
around the province and, in February 2000, President Wahid
permitted a consultative meeting in Jayapura, to which Joku led a
delegation of 30 from overseas.

That meeting formalised the council's structure, with 501 members
and a presidium or executive of 31. Joku was chosen as one of three
moderators within the 31.

He had been about to shift from working for PNG's Trade Minister to
a job with the new privatisation commission there, but he has put
this and all other elements of his life on hold since the council's
formation.

The internationalisation of the cause, Joku's new prime role, is
=93very, very important'', he said. =93It lifts the image of the
movement, and could convince the international community that the
struggle is worthwhile, at least looking at.

=93It's amazing the progress we've made at this in under 18 months.''

The East Timor experience, he said, =93demonstrates how a receptive m
edia can become an effective tool in liberating a nation. The
Australian media did that almost single-handedly.''

The Australian Government is something else.

=93We understand and respect the predicament it faces in having to
live with, let alone deal with, Indonesia, and therefore wishes the
West Papua issue would blow away.

=93But that's not going to happen.''
-end-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Received from Joyo Indonesian News

Australian Financial Review
Friday, January 12, 2001
Independence leader forges links with foreign investors
Rowan Callick, Asia-Pacific Editor

The independence movement in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya
is building links with investors, including with the massive
Freeport mine, according to Mr Franzalbert Joku, the movement's
international moderator.

In an interview with The Australian Financial Review, Mr Joku
insisted that an independent Irian Jaya could survive economically.

"We are, and will be, a very wealthy nation. We have abundant
resources that can only be the envy of many nations in the world.

"If West Papua [Irian Jaya] is not considered economically viable,
why is Indonesia fighting tooth and nail to keep it? Because a
large proportion of its tax revenues come from there.

"We want those activities to continue. Freeport mine will
definitely stay open," he said.

Freeport, one of the world's largest mines, with decades of
reserves left, has begun cautiously placing bets each way after the
demise of the Soeharto dynasty, to which it seemed to have pinned
its considerable fortune.

Mr Joku added: "We are talking about establishing a modern and
viable State, and to do that we have to deal with developers.

"Any sensible leader would want to see such relationships continue.

"We are already holding discussions with Freeport and with other
investors, present and potential.

"The business world is very sensitive to the kind of events
unfolding in West Papua and wants to see its interests protected.
We shall do everything possible, in our power and within reason, to
see this happens."

But Mr Joku said he was "deeply troubled" by the prospect of
anti-independence militias being formed, as in East Timor.

"Already there is evidence of such groups being formed by the
military," he said.

"The people we have least trouble with are those at the very top,
and with ordinary Indonesians living and working in Irian Jaya. The
problem is those in between.

"Over the years, military leaders and bureaucrats have carved up
West Papua into very lucrative pieces of real estate servicing
their own vested interests."

He admitted that the Papua Council, the umbrella body now
spearheading the independence campaign, and of which he is one of
three moderators, had strong connections with the Melanesians' own
long-term armed militants.

Mr Joku said the council related to the Organisasi Papua Merdeka
[OPM or Free Papua Organisation] in a similar way to Sinn Fein and
the Irish Republican Army.

The council struck an accord with these groups in Vanuatu last July
under which they acknowledge the council as paramount.

"But the OPM has no chance of defeating the Indonesian army," Mr
Joku said.

"It is the political will of the Papuan people that will defeat the
military, not the OPM, which is more a symbol of the struggle. In
all-out battle, we are defenceless."

However, Mr Joku paid tribute to this guerilla movement as "serving
a very useful purpose at a time when the flame of freedom couldn't
otherwise be seen".

Independence talk has attracted some people to come to Irian Jaya
from other parts of Indonesia where they have been unhappy, while
at the same time causing some settlers who are not indigenous
Melanesians to flee.

Mr Joku said non-Melanesians were not in jeopardy.

"I am confident many will choose to make West Papua their home, and
we welcome them to do so. They will be governed by the same laws as
everyone in an independent West Papua."

He predicted that the prolonged leadership struggle in Indonesia
would end with the nation divided into six or seven smaller
countries.

"As much as people, including the current Australian Government,
wish this does not happen, I feel it is an irreversible process,"
he said.

Mr Joku said he was willing to discuss autonomy with Indonesia, but
only as an interim stage towards self-determination, with a clear
time-frame and with a third party such as the UN involved.

He is not interested in a China-Hong Kong style "one country, two
systems" formula.

"Sovereign nationhood is our ultimate objective. An amicable and
lasting resolution to the issue will contribute to stabilising the
region," he said.

All Papua New Guinea governments have, like Australia, backed
Jakarta as the legitimate ruler of Irian Jaya.

"But such formal statements don't in any meaningful way affect the
feelings of the PNG public, who overwhelmingly support our
campaign," said Mr Joku, a naturalised PNG citizen who was a
prominent newspaper editor there and later chief of staff to Sir
Julius Chan when he was prime minister.

**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and East Timor,
1973-2000
**************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Chronicle of Higher Education [Washington DC]
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Violence Feared at University in Indonesian Province of Irian Jaya
By DAVID COHEN

Officials at Cenderawasih University, in Jayapura, the capital of
the disputed Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, warn of escalating
violence after a wave of sectarian unrest swept the city early last
month, leaving at least three students dead.

Police officers raided three dormitories at Irian Jaya's only
university in search of "terrorists," who, they contended, had
earlier killed at least two of their colleagues. One of the
students perished at the scene of the raid, while the two others
died after being taken into police custody, according to the
Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy, a regional
human-rights organization.

At least 50 other students were arrested, according to the
human-rights group.

Irian Jaya, formerly known as Dutch New Guinea, is home to a native
Melanesian population of 1.8 million, most of them Christians, as
well as 700,000 settlers from other parts of Indonesia. It was
ceded to Indonesia by the United Nations in 1963.

Virtually all of the students affected by the recent violence come
from the mountain hill tribes of the province, where a 29-year-old
separatist movement against Indonesian rule draws its most militant
support.

The incidents occurred shortly after December 1, the anniversary of
the separatists' 1961 declaration of independence. They say their
homeland was stolen from them by Indonesia, which comprises about
7,000 inhabited islands.

In a telephone interview Tuesday from Yogyakarta, a city on the
island of Java, Sem Karoba, an English-language instructor at
Cenderawasih University, said the disputed province seemed likely
to become "a war zone" as "the cycle of retribution gathers pace."

For the institution's 4,000 students, he said, "campus life right
now is a matter of being more and more alert to the reality of
violence. Many of the students no longer even dress like students,
but rather as street workers," for fear of what could happen to
them at the hands of security-force officers. An additional 1,000
officers were recently sent by the Indonesian government to restore
order in the city.

Faculty members also remain at risk in the wake of last month's
disorder, said Mr. Karoba. "English-language instructors -- some of
whom, like me, have been intimidated by the police, and others who
have been assaulted or killed -- are being especially targeted,
both because we read more widely and can communicate more widely to
the outside world about what's really happening here."

Alex Sampe, a police chief from Jayapura, said independence-minded
university students from the central-highlands town of Wamena were
responsible for the current problems. "They are terrorists," he
said. "They are extremely anarchistic. We declare war on them."

Date: 1/11/01 10:15:37 PM Central Standard Time
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Indonesian Observer
Friday, January 12 - 2001
Rescuers again fail to evacuate bodies from crash

JAKARTA (IO) =97 The search and rescue (SAR) team yesterday failed to
evacuate nine bodies of military and civilian officials killed when
their plane crashed in the mountainous jungles of Jayawijaya
regency in the country=92s remote Irian Jaya province.

National Defense Forces (TNI) spokesman Vice Marshal Graito Usodo
told the press here yesterday that he had received information from
the Irian Jaya Military Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Karel Ralahalu
who said that the search would resume today.

The helicopter which was to be used to evacuate the bodies could
fly over the site in Silimo village, Kurima subdistrict, Jayawijaya
regency, but could not land and was forced to return because of the
fast-flowing waters of a nearby river and thick fog.

The same factors halted evacuation efforts yesterday. =93We plan to
continue tomorrow (today),=94 a local official in the Irian Jaya town
of Timika was quoted by Antara as saying yesterday.

The rescue team, which consists of personnel from the Air Force,
the Army=92s Special Forces (Kopassus) and other military units, is
now waiting at Kenyam, the area considered safest and closest to
the location of the remaining five bodies.

Victims include Irian Jaya Military Commander Maj. Gen. Tonny A.
Rompis, Irian Jaya House Speaker Nataniel Kaiway, Pilot Maj. Sutopo
Waluyo, and Sutan, a crew member. Another four bodies have not been
recovered because they lie under debris of the ill-fated plane.

Other victims are: Irian Jaya Police Chief Insp. Gen. FX Sumardi,
head of the local prosecutors office Bismar Mannue, member of Irian
Jaya governor=92s staff Hiskai Jitmau, co-pilot First Lt. Dedy
Haryanto, and another crew member Gunawan.

The Indonesian-built Casa 212 plane lost contact with the airport
tower at Jayapura=92s Sentani airbase on Monday, about an hour before
it was due to arrive on a flight from the province=92s southwest
mining city of Timika, near a giant copper and gold mine operated
by PT Freeport Indonesia, a unit of the U.S.-based Freeport McMoran
Copper & Gold Inc.

National Police Spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf ruled out the
possibility of sabotage.

He has also ordered all flags at police posts to be lowered to half
mast.

On Wednesday, President Abdurrahman Wahid expressed condolences to
the families of the victims and led brief prayers for the victims
after being told all on board had perished.

Irian Jaya, on the western half of New Guinea and the eastern end
of the Archipelago is one of the world=92s last great tropical
wildernesses.

There are few roads and air travel has become the only reliable
form of transport in the mineral-rich region, which covers 422,000
square kilometers.

Condolences
Irian Jaya=92s jailed separatist leaders yesterday placed a newspaper
advertisement expressing their condolences over the deaths of the
province=92s police and military chiefs.

In a quarter-page advertisement, the Presidium of the Papua Council
offered condolences and expressed sadness at the deaths of =93the
nation=92s best sons.=94 Signatories included chairman of the
presidium, Theys Hiyo Eluay and secretary general, Thaha Al Hamid,
both of whom have been under police detention in Jayapura since
early December.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Radio Australia
Friday 12 January 2001 - (07:06:24 AEST)
Increase of refugees from West Papua to PNG last month

The Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea says it hopes a solution
will be found today on where to locate about 400 West Papuans
who've crossed the border to Vanimo.

The people have been escaping the political problems in the
Indonesian province of West Papua, formerly Irian Jaya.

The Bishop of P-N-G's West Sepik Province, Cesare Boniventu, says
the West Papuans are living at a church-run primary school.

Bishop Boniventu says he hopes the government will decide on a
suitable location, until they are granted refugee status.

=93They cannot go yet to that place call Blackwater because it is
identified as the traditional place for refugees, recognised
refugees. Now their status is not yet of refugees, they are still
border crossers so the government is to find another place suitable
for them.=94
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Age (Melbourne)
COMMENT
The Indonesia myth
By Scott Burchill
Friday 12 January 2001

Foreign minister Alexander Downer's increasingly vocal opposition
to independence for West Papua places him firmly in a long-standing
diplomatic tradition. Why have successive Australian governments
been so consistently against any changes to the territorial
boundaries of the Republic of Indonesia?

Three points deserve consideration.

First, Australia's foreign policy elite is allergic to small
economically dependent states in the neighborhood. It's not just
diplomatically more convenient to deal with a single metropolitan
centre that controls the whole Indonesian archipelago. Strong
central administration reduces the likelihood that economically
unviable, politically unstable micro states (for example, East
Timor) will emerge to become dependent on Australian aid.

It is much easier to negotiate seabed boundaries and agreements to
exploit shared energy resources, such as those of the Timor sea,
with one interlocutor.

But what happens when the metropolitan power itself becomes an
economic mendicant is a question our government would prefer not to
face.

Canberra has always seen Indonesia as chaotic, over-populated, poor
and a potential source of "boat people". Only a strong man such as
Suharto was thought capable of holding the place together. They may
not have liked his methods but a unitary Indonesian state was as
dear to the hearts of Australian diplomats as it was to the
political elite in Jakarta.

Second, Canberra doesn't understand that the contesting and
redrawing of political boundaries is a normal feature of
international politics. The territorial frontiers of states are
rarely immutable.

Some territories reunite after a trial separation (Vietnam,
Germany, Yemen, Hong Kong and soon Macau and Korea). Others
fragment, sometimes peacefully (Czechoslovakia), occasionally
cooperatively (USSR) and too frequently violently (Ethiopia,
Yugoslavia). After 24 years of struggle against a brutal occupation
and international indifference, East Timor - apart from the Baltic
states - is one of the few examples of secession ultimately decided
by a genuinely democratic vote.

But secession does not always lead to fragmentation. Some
separatist movements are political protests against being governed
in common with others (Tibet, Philippines, Aceh, West Papua,
Chechnya, Quebec).

Sovereign states restructure when they no longer command the
authority and loyalty that they possessed or once claimed to
possess. Minority groups may argue that their identities and
interests are excluded from the dominant images of nationhood
propounded by the state: they no longer feel part of the common
national project.

Consequently, they start looking for new political structures that
more faithfully acknowledge their ethnicity and satisfy their
political and economic interests.

This is now happening at the western and eastern extremities of the
Indonesian archipelago. Although both Aceh and West Papua can boast
of nationalist movements that predate Indonesia's formation 50
years ago, in their current form both are manifestations of
Jakarta's greed and brutality. For decades Acehnese and Papuans
have been excluded from the common national project directed from
Java, wanted only for their natural rather than their human
resources.

In the case of West Papua, resistance to Jakarta's rule has been
bolstered by economic exploitation, transmigration and a fraudulent
plebiscite conducted, much to its discredit, under UN auspices in
1969. Jakarta's only response to what is essentially a separatist
movement of its own making, has been to put its trust in force and
violence. It sees no irony in its defence of the sanctity of
boundaries established by the perfidious Dutch.

Canberra has little influence either way. But if it really wants to
preserve the status quo, it should direct its concerns to the
source of instability in the archipelago - the Indonesian
military - rather than admonish Australian non-government
organisations for supporting the rights of its victims.

Better still, it should accept that change is inevitable.

Third, supporting the status quo is not an ethically neutral
proposition. Canberra should answer the question, "what is it that
you want stabilised?"

During the period of Suharto's rule, horrific mass killings
throughout the republic and in East Timor, the torture and
imprisonment without trial of political prisoners, and the
suppression of dissent and organised labor were being
"stabilised" - with the gratitude of Australia's foreign policy
establishment. Mr Downer now warns that a bloodbath would result if
West Papua was encouraged to separate by outsiders. Just how would
he characterise Jakarta's behavior in the province over the past 30
years?

The Acehnese and West Papuans have the right under international
law to reconsider their political arrangements, regardless of the
preferences of others. Who is to say that a new dispensation for
both territories wouldn't ease current levels of tension, violence
and dissatisfaction? Both are resource-rich and there is no reason
for them to be hostile to Australia.

Despite the anxieties of a small number of officials in Canberra,
Indonesia is not disintegrating. A reconstitution of Indonesia's
boundaries that allows the disaffected to go their own way would
almost certainly end with independence for Aceh and West Papua, and
not ineluctably lead to the Balkanisation of the archipelago.

Mr Downer's attempts to assuage elite paranoia in Jakarta about
Canberra's imaginary regional designs is an unnecessary replay of
past policy mistakes. Silence would be a much wiser policy.
-- Scott Burchill lectures in international relations at Deakin
University. E-mail: burchill@deakin.edu.au
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday, January 11 7:48 PM SGT
Indonesian Govt Grants Troubled Irian Jaya Duty Free Car Imports
JAKARTA, Jan 11 Asia Pulse

The Indonesian government will give Irian Jaya a duty free facility
to import used cars, said Industry and Trade Minister Luhut B.
Panjaitan today.

Luhut said he would request that the regional authorities of Irian
Jaya be allowed to import used cars from Japan and South Korea.

"They do not need many cars, but they badly need some," he said.

Currently, the regional administration and the people of Irian Jaya
could not afford to buy new cars as the prices are too high, he
said.

He said that Irian Jaya also needs trucks, bulldozers and pick-ups
as many car owners sent theirs out of the region after the violent
clashes between police and separatists.

The price of used cars from Japan and South Korea is around Rp35
million (US$4,000) per unit, much lower than the prices put up by
dealers.

The regional authorities said the have made contacts with suppliers
in Japan and South Korea to arrange shipment.
-- (ANTARA)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Far Eastern Economic Review
Indonesia
Chaos Rebuffed
-- An ambitious programme to devolve power is curbed, but confusion
about the future persists
By Sadanand Dhume/JAKARTA
Issue cover-dated January 18, 2001

WITH A SHAKY CURRENCY, the former president's son on the run from
police and a series of recent bomb blasts in major cities, you
would be forgiven for thinking that Indonesia has more than its
share of troubles.

Still, on January 1, as if inviting further instability, the
country began implementing two laws designed to give more power to
361 districts and cities nationwide. Though the laws were drafted
by idealists who see devolution of power as a panacea for
Indonesia's problems, pragmatists favouring slower change seem to
have taken over the implementation process.

Faced with the prospect of widespread chaos if inexperienced local
politicians were to take over real power, Jakarta has tried to
apply the brakes. In August, the regional-autonomy portfolio was
taken away from Ryaas Rasyid, the academic-turned-politician widely
regarded as the brains behind the laws, and given to the Ministry
of Home Affairs. On January 2, Rasyid tendered his resignation as
minister of state for administrative reforms, citing differences
with President Abdurrahman Wahid over implementation of the laws.

Continued uncertainty over the final contours of the programme has
raised concerns, notably among foreign investors, over the future
distribution of power.

The two laws were passed in 1999 during the presidency of B.J.
Habibie. Their intention: to blunt the edge of dissent against
Jakarta's often heavy-handed rule and to encourage economic
enterprise and better local services by giving hundreds of
districts wide-ranging powers, including the ability to tax and to
grant business licences.

But faced with serious doubts about the quality of district
administrations, the danger of fiscal profligacy and fears of
widespread corruption, Jakarta has decided to back-pedal. After
scrapping the Ministry of Regional Autonomy in August, it refused
to set up a special coordinating agency to speed up the process.

It has also slowed the transfer of civil servants from central to
local control and moved to curb the ability of local governments to
borrow indiscriminately for spending binges. And on January 5,
Minister for Mines and Energy Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the mining
industry would remain under Jakarta's control for up to five years.

Yet concerns remain about whether the central government can retain
much of its authority without provoking a backlash from restive
local governments eager for their promised slice of power. The
prognosis, so far, is not encouraging.

"Regions have different expectations," says a senior World Bank
official. "Central ministries have different expectations. It could
be a real dog's breakfast."

It wasn't meant to be this way. Regional autonomy, says Rasyid, was
supposed to bring government closer to the people, encourage
healthy competition for investment, and minimize the risk of
Indonesia disintegrating. But those rosy expectations aren't shared
by many. Instead of business-friendly local governments competing
to offer companies tax breaks and good infrastructure, foreign
investors worry that they will face rapacious politicians who raise
taxes arbitrarily and officials who lack the capacity to implement
regulations.

"These are extremely politically immature governments," says a
senior Jakarta-based employee of an American mining company. "The
worst legacy of the Suharto regime was that it was like a banyan
tree that would not allow any growth below. These might as well be
student-body, high-school governments."

Unpleasant Consequences
Even before the laws' implementation, multinationals, particularly
in oil, gas and mining, have faced the unpleasant consequences of
the breakdown of central authority, from violent attacks to
seemingly random taxation.

A Western security consultant in Jakarta says decentralization only
adds to worries about a breakdown of law and order. In the Suharto
era, "when in trouble, you would pick up the phone and call Jakarta
and there would be 300-400 troops there in a day," he says. "People
are scared after May '98. You pick up the phone and ask for help
and nobody's on the other end."

According to Andi Mallarangeng, a political scientist who worked on
the original autonomy law, the Ministry of Home Affairs has
effectively sabotaged regional autonomy. "That idealism has been
lost," he says. "The Home Affairs people taking care of it are
bureaucrats, not academics like us. We wrote that law. We had that
vision."