Friday, May 17, 2013

1) Govt to investigate Papua landslide accident


1) Govt to investigate Papua landslide accident

2) Freeport Indonesia mine should stay shut to probe tunnel collapse -union
3) Benny Wenda : This is Why We Establish an Office

4) Money-Laundering Body Confident of Papua Cop Evidence

5) Aust Parliament QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE West Papua

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/05/17/govt-investigate-papua-landslide-accident.html

1) Govt to investigate Papua landslide accident

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Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said he had assigned his subordinates to investigate the landslide incident at the Big Gossan training facility at PT Freeport Indonesia's mining site in Timika Papua.
“It’s a modern mining area, how did this happen,” said Jero on Friday, as quoted by tempo.co.
Jero said that two mining inspectors and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry director general for minerals and coals had flown to the site. They were assigned to observe the conditions and oversee the evacuation.
According to Jero, the initial investigation showed bad weather and subterranean vibrations as the causes. “The accident forces us to recheck all underground mining,” said Jero.
The landslide buried 38 Freeport Indonesia employees on Tuesday. The rescue team evacuated 15 people up until Friday, five of them died. It is reported that 23 others were still trapped inside.
PT Freeport Indonesia suspended all mining activities two days after the landslide as a mark of condolence and sympathy to the victims. (nai
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2) Freeport Indonesia mine should stay shut to probe tunnel collapse -union
Fri May 17, 2013 4:57am EDT
* Suspension of copper mining enters third day
* Tension between union, Freeport could spook investors
Indonesia president calls for investigation
By Yayat Supriatna and Michael Taylor

JAKARTA, May 17 (Reuters) - Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc's Indonesian copper mine should remain closed for an investigation into a tunnel collapse that has left five dead and 23 missing, a trade union leader said on Friday.

Thirty-nine workers were attending an underground training class away from the main operations at the world's No.2 copper mine when a tunnel fell in on them on Tuesday.

Freeport Indonesia, which on Wednesday halted work at the Grasberg mine in the remote West Papua province as a mark of respect to those killed or trapped, could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.
"All operational activities including production activities have to be stopped during the investigation process," union leader Virgo Solossa told Reuters.
"We think that the accident has been caused by the company's carelessness. This has to be investigated."

Freeport had said on Wednesday that it was still too early to identify the causes of the incident and that it would continue to look into the collapse.
Operations at the mine, which also holds the world's largest gold reserves, remained suspended on Friday, according to Solossa and a source with knowledge of the matter.

Any impact on supply would initially be minimal as the mine keeps stockpiles in reserve in case of disruptions, but that would change if the closure drags on.
Investors will also be wary that the incident could further sour relations between the union and the Arizona-based firm, with memories still fresh of a three-month strike in late 2011.
On Thursday, the company and union put on hold pay talks that began on May 13.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for an investigation and for rescue efforts to be intensified in a Twitter message late on Thursday, urging all companies in the country to improve safety for workers.

The Grasberg mine has been a frequent source of friction over how its rich resources are shared between locals, the company and Jakarta.
Around 50 percent of the mine's copper is shipped to smelters that Freeport either owns or part-owns in Indonesia and the United States, analysts say.

TRAINING TUNNEL
Solossa said the government should take "firm action" and questioned why the company built the training centre in an underground area, as well as the building's structure and safety procedures.
"Freeport also has to show full responsibility for the victim's treatment and compensation," he said, adding that the firm should replace workers injured or killed with their relatives.

The training tunnel was located outside the mining area and around 500 metres from the entrance of the Big Gossan mine.
Freeport Indonesia President Director Rozik Soetjipto, who was at the mine site on Thursday, ordered field teams to make a new round of inspections in all underground structures to ensure that they are safe.
Despite the suspension of operations, which was being reviewed on an hourly basis, Freeport Indonesia has said that production was not expected to be significantly affected.

Freeport declared a force majeure on some concentrate sales about one month into a three-month strike in late 2011, freeing itself from some of its contractual supply obligations.
"In locales like this, that are more prone to geological and employer unrest and also from a weather aspect too, they have to be well prepared for periods where there may not be much in the way of mine production," said Gavin Wendt an analyst for MineLife in Australia.
Freeport Indonesia's sales are expected to reach 1.1 billion pounds of copper and 1.2 million ounces of gold in 2013, up 54 percent and 31 percent over 2012, respectively.

"You will be looking at about four weeks of supply in stockpiles to ensure that the operation can keep chugging along," he added. "If it continues on, you'll start to see an impact on copper prices ... After a week and if there is a prospect that it will linger on."
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was little-changed at $7,300.75 a tonne by 0846 GMT.
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http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2013/05/17/074481152/Benny-Wenda--This-is-Why-We-Establish-an-Office

FRIDAY, 17 MAY, 2013 | 14:29 WIB
3) Benny Wenda : This is Why We Establish an Office
TEMPO.COOxford – Benny Wenda, leader of the Free West Papua movement, said that his decision to establish an office in Oxford was a response to supports coming from all over the world. He added that he have received numerous supports demanding for the Free West Papua campaign to be carried out.
"Because our campaign [is] growing globally, there has to be an official office to accomodate the need in the five continents [of the world]", Benny said to Tempo in Oxford, Wednesday, May 15.
He explained that many of the movement supporters want to run their own personal campaign. Therefore, he felt the need to establish a campaign center to educate the supporters about Papua. "That is the purpose of this office, to give an understanding for both Indonesians and international communities why Papuans want their own freedom and be separated from Indonesia," he said.
Benny inaugurated the movement office on May 1. The event was attended by Andrew Smith, a British parliamentary member. The event prompted a harsh reaction from Indonesia. Foreign minister Marty Natalegawa even specially invited England ambassador for Indonesia Mark Canning, demanding a clarification.
KARTIKA CANDRA (Oxford)

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4) Money-Laundering Body Confident of Papua Cop Evidence


The national money-laundering watchdog says it can prove that a low-ranking Papua police officer was behind Rp 1.5 trillion ($155 million) in suspect bank transactions that allegedly passed through his account.
“The Rp 1.5 trillion amount is an accumulation [of what went through the account],” Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) chief M. Yusuf said in Jakarta on Friday. “Let the officer [deny it], it’s expected that he denies it. It will be proven in court.”
Yusuf said PPATK had examined the financial transactions of Adj. First Insp. Labora Sitorus, but refused to reveal how the Rp 1.5 trillion figure was arrived at.
“We calculated it accurately but the method cannot be revealed because it’s confidential,” he said. “It’s our calculating method, it is accurate and we have sent the information to the National Police.”
Yusuf said he would not publicly discuss the details of the suspicious transactions because the case was now a police matter. “It is interesting due to its enormous amount,” he said. “The amount was an accumulation [of funds] and we have sent it [to the police]. You can get information from their officers, because PPATK cannot comment on it now.”
Papua Police announced this week that Labora was linked to the transactions, which allegedly stemmed from fuel smuggling. The man was known to his superiors as “the cash machine.”
Papua Police director for special crimes Sr. Comr. Setyo Budi Setyanto told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday that Labora had been charged in connection with 1,000 kiloliters of fuel seized in West Papua’s Sorong district, but had not been detained and had refused to come in for questioning.
“His legal status is a suspect for the illegal possession of fuel,” Setyo said, adding that the officer had no permit to trade, transport or store petrol.
“Investigators have called him in for questioning, but he has not shown up. Hopefully we’ll be able to question him next week.”
Deputy House of Representatives Speaker Pramono Anung said that if allegations the money is the result of illegal logging and stolen subsidized fuel proved true, it was a sign that government systems had failed.
“If this was allowed to go on, it will further deteriorate the National Police’s credibility,” Pramono said.
He said he believed Labora had been protected and helped by high-ranking officials and called on the government and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate the case, arguing the police will not be able to handle such a sensitive and complex matter.
“The KPK has to take over. Even though this involves a low-ranking officer, the money is just extraordinary,” Pramono said.
Police are also investigating Labora’s alleged ownership of 115 containers of timber now being held at Surabaya’s Tanjung Perak port.
“The wood was sent from Sorong and we’re currently inspecting the documents. We ordered the shipment seized on suspicion that it belongs to L.S.,” Papua Police’s Setyo said.
He added that police were investigating claims the timber was illegally logged and the fuel siphoned from tankers.
Brig. Gen. Arief Sulistyanto, the National Police director for special and economic crimes, said in Jakarta that detectives had been investigating Labora since mid-March, after seizing a boat in Sorong that was carrying 400,000 liters of government-subsidized diesel. The boat’s owner was later identified as Labora.
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5) Aust Parliament QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE West Papua



Senator MADIGAN (Victoria) (14:47): My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr. Minister, in light of the continuing revelations of the persecution of the West Papuan people by the Indonesian authorities, including the detailed and distressing reports of the removal of West Papuan children from their families and their culture for education and indoctrination into Islam in the pesantren schools in Jakarta and other areas of Indonesia—and in light of the fact that much of our aid to Indonesia is being spent on the funding of schools and with the recent budget announcement that Australia's aid to Indonesia will increase by $105 million to $646 million this year—can the minister guarantee that none of Australian taxpayers' money given to Indonesia in foreign aid will be used to fund Indonesia's oppression of the human rights of the West Papuan people?

Senator BOB CARR (New South WalesMinister for Foreign Affairs) (14:48): No Australian aid money is being used to oppress the Papuan people. The allegation is wrong; it is based on fallacious propaganda. Not even proponents of Papuan independence subscribe to this view. The Australian government agrees with the Indonesian president, President Yudhoyono, that full implementation of special autonomy is the best way to deliver durable peace and security for the people of Papua. Australia recognises the territorial integrity of Indonesia through the 2006 Lombok Treaty. We do not see special autonomy as a step towards Papuan independence.
Contrary to Senator Madigan's allegations, Australians should all be proud that our aid to Indonesia is improving school quality by building 2,000 junior secondary schools, training midwives so that more than 40,000 births can be attended and delivering an extra 9,000 sewerage connections in communities without access to water or sanitation. This aid will establish 300,000 new secondary school enrolments by 2016. Some 20,000 people in Papua and West Papua will receive HIV treatment through our aid program. Even Senator Madigan should acknowledge that the quickest way out of poverty is access to education and good health services. Let me be very clear: the Australian position, under governments of different persuasion, has been that Indonesian sovereignty in the provinces of West Papua is absolute and uncontested, and only reckless Australians would argue for any other proposition. Only reckless, unthinking Australians would defy this country's national interests and urge the dismemberment of Indonesia. That is an appalling thing to do. It takes no account of this country's interests or of the interests and welfare of the people of Indonesia or of those in Papua.

Senator MADIGAN (Victoria) (14:50): Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Minister, in recent reports on the removal of West Papuan children from their homes, it was stated that the Indonesian authorities were using Hercules C130 planes to fly these children to Jakarta and elsewhere. Can you advise whether the C130s or any other planes or equipment used in these removals—or in fact the forced removal of any West Papuan people from their country—have been gifted or sold to Indonesia by the Australian government?

Senator BOB CARR (New South WalesMinister for Foreign Affairs) (14:51): First of all, we have no evidence of the extraordinary allegation that children are being taken from their homes—forcibly removed—and inculcated in Islam in the rest of Indonesia. We have no evidence of that. That is the first point I want to make and underline. I am advised that none of the Australian C130 aircraft have been delivered to Indonesia yet. Through the Defence Cooperation Program with Indonesia, Australia has agreed to provide up to four of them. The contribution was to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations so that Indonesia could respond better to natural disasters. None of the Australian C130 aircraft have been delivered yet. One of the aircraft is being repaired, but delivery to Indonesia is some time off. The suggestion that there were forced removals of West Papuan people has never been established.

Senator MADIGAN (Victoria) (14:52): Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. In 2008, Prime Minister Rudd rightly apologised to the members of the stolen generation for the actions perpetrated against them and stated that the injustices of the past must never happen again. Minister Carr, can you advise whether the government consider these injustices to be limited to our own shores or whether they have considered at what point they will have to apologise to the stolen generations of West Papua for the tacit approval of these injustices by the silence of successive Australian governments?

Senator BOB CARR (New South WalesMinister for Foreign Affairs) (14:53): I just asserted—I hope my language was clear enough—that no evidence has been presented to us of the forced removal of children from homes in the Papuan provinces and their religious inculcation elsewhere in Indonesia. We have not seen evidence of it. Our embassy in Jakarta takes a keen interest in all human rights questions that arise out of Papua. It takes a keen interest and investigates them. We maintain a dialogue with Indonesia about this. In my meetings with the Indonesians—with the President, with the Foreign Minister—our Indonesian interlocutors have raised the matter of Papua before I have been able to get to it. The President has underlined his commitment to special autonomy, and we agree with his interpretation that economic growth, the achievement of prosperity, is the best path forward—linked to special autonomy—for the people of those two provinces.

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