Casualties after Incident at Gorong-Gorong, Timika, Papua

A tragic incident occurred on Monday, 28^th September 2015 in Gorong-Gorong, Timika, Papua Province when a clash between civilians and police officers resulted in the death of one civilian while another was left in a critical condition.

The incident was sparked when a group of men tried to steal a motorcycle from one of the houses in Gorong-Gorong on Sunday, 27^th September 2015 at 11 p.m. The owner of the house heard the attempted theft and cried for help. The burglars were arrested and taken to Mimika Baru Police Sub-Precinct office.

On the following afternoon, the house owner went to Mimika Baru Police Sub-Precinct office to solve the problem. However, perhaps due to emotional tension, the house owner physically assaulted the burglar, an act that was heard by some of the burglar’s friends.

THE HISTORY OF INDONESIAN PAPUA (PROVINCE OFPAPUA AND PROVINCE OF WEST PAPUA)

Pre-European History of Papua

Despite scant records of interaction between the people of Papua and other Indonesian ethnic groups, trade and social contacts. had already begun since the early centuries after Christ. The earliest record of the island dates back to the 8^th century during the period of Sriwijaya, the first kingdom whose territory. approximately covered the whole of the present-day Indonesia, with its capital in the vicinity of present-day Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra province. King Sri Indrawarman sent many gifts to the emperor of China, including some birds of paradise indigenous of Papua, which was then known as Janggi.

Five centuries later, a Chinese traveler by the name of Chau Yu Kua visited the Nusantara (the old name of for Indonesian archipelago) island of Tung-ki. Experts believe that Tung-ki was the Chinese transliteration of Janggi. He noted that the people of the island had a close relationship with the people of the Molluca Islands.

The second major archipelagic kingdom in Indonesia was Majapahit of East Java. During the reign of King Hayam Wuruk (1292-1521), many lesser kings of the archipelago came to the capital to pledge allegiance and form an alliance with the mighty king, including the kings of the Mollucas whose territory included the island of Papua. In 1365, Gajah Mada, prime minister to the court of Hayam Wuruk, commissioned a book on the history of Majapahit to the court-chronicler Prapanca. In the book titled Nagarakertagama, Prapanca wrote about places in Majapahit’s eastern territories, including Papua. Evidently, by the mid 14^th century Papua was an integral part of Nusantara.

First European Contract

Investment Opportunities in the Indonesian Province of Papua

Investment opportunities in Papua are still welcome. Foreign investors have been predominant players in the mining, chemical, utilities, transportation, industrial estates, and fisheries sectors.

Minerals

Quite apart from the ongoing search for oil and gas, Papua’s rich mineral resources are likely to continue to attract investors interest, especially as improvements in transportation and communications facilities enhance accessibility to wider regions of the province. Even today, two mineral reserves are thought to offer bright prospects: granite in Manokwari Regency and marble in Paniai Regency.

Other mineral investment opportunities include chalk and limestone in Manokwari Regency, and quartz sand, limestone, and clay in Jayawijaya Regency.

Agribusiness

Value-added processing of various agricultural products continues to offer opportunities. While Jayapura Regency is considered particularly suitable for the development of cocoa estates, nearby Biak Numfor regency has been earmarked for further development of cocoa processing, both for cocoa products such as butter and powder, and chocolate products.

Additional investment in palm oil processing is a further opportunity in a number of areas of Papua, such as Paniai, Fak- fak, Sorong, and Manokwari. Other investment openings in commodities include sugarcane, coffee, cashew nuts, sago, integrated coconut industry, and rubber. All these offer scope for downstream industrial processing. For example, palm oil and coconut oil open the door to the production of oleo chemicals, while rubber can be processed into crumb and other forms.

THE ECONOMY OF PROVINCE OF PAPUA

Some 40 years after formally becoming a province of Indonesia in 1969, this eastern most part of the country remains largely virgin territory. Extremely rich in forests, oil and gas, minerals and other natural resources; rich in tribal cultures, endemic flora and fauna; endowed with unsurpassed natural beauties-Papua still ranks as one of the world’s last frontiers. Unquestionably it offers wide investment opportunities for those of truly entrepreneurial spirit.

 Resources

Land and Water

More than 75 percent of the province is covered by dense forest and woodland, ranging from lowland tropical rain forest to dry evergreen, medium, and high-altitude alpine trees. Of the more than 1,000 species of trees, some 150 varieties are commercially viable.

The next largest tracts of land consist of grassland and fallow land, followed by small-holder estates and crop fields-rice, sago, corn, cassava, sweet potato, nutmeg, cloves, fruit and vegetables, etc. A significant percentage of arable land is also used to cultivate commercial crops such as palm oil, coconuts, cocoa, soybeans and rubber.

With a 3,500 km coastline and numerous large rivers and lakes, Papua’s estimated 970.000sq. km.of territorlal and inland waters have a potential yield of over 1.5 million tons of fish annually, including various species of tuna, marlin, sailflsh, swordfish, baramundi, shark, and sole. Other important marine resources are crab, seaweed, sea cucumber, and pearls.

The province’s reserve of mangrove swamps is the largest of its kind in Indonesia, comprising a vast natural environment for the spawning of shrimp. Numerous rivers, lakes and ponds provide further extensive resources for fish breeding and farming.

Minerals

Papua is rich in oil and natural gas resources. Oil has been drilled in the province since the 1930s but while exploration continues and new discoveries have been made, many known basins have yet to be exploited.

Geologically, Papua lies in a unique position between two giant plates-the oceanic crust of the Pacific Plate and the continental crust of the Australian Plate. Tectonic movement of the plates for over millions of years has resulted in Papua being squeezed between the two. The result is the limestone mountain range in the middle of the province. In the process of its formation, the intrusion of acidic rocks caused a mineralization of base metals, from which copper and other mineral reserves are derived. PT Freeport .Indonesia’s mine in the Timika Regency contains the largest copper reserves in the world, along with gold and silver concentrates. Other fossil fuels and mineral ores include coal, peat, aluminum, nickel, chromium, cobalt, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, tin, tungsten and zinc, while industrial minerals include asbestos, graphite, marble, mica, opal, phosphate, quartz and talc.

Population and Manpower

In contrast to Papua comprising 22 percent of Indonesia’s land mass, the province’s population represents only around one percent of the national population. Urbanization has proceeded very slowly, accounting for 26 percent of the population in 1995. In 1999, from a labor force or 925,123, 72 percent was occupied in agriculture, forestry and fishery, 4 percent in industrial processing and manufacturing, 6 percent in trade, hotels and restaurants, 15 percent in other services, and the remainder in mining.

Infrastructure

Roads

Roads are reasonably well developed in and around the main towns. It is hardly surprising, however, that in a province as remote as Papua, with sparse population and possessing rugged terrain throughout most of its interior, roads should be relatively few and far between. In the past, it was easier to travel by water and air than by road. However, the Government has recently completed a new 585-km road running from the city of Jayapura in the north to wamena in the heart of the Baliem Valley in the center of Papua. This was a project that took twelve years to complete due to the rough terrain and thick jungle.

The road, which forms an initial phase of what is planned to be an extended trans-Papua highway, will go a long way to help open up cultivable land along its route and connect agricultural producers,   through the gateways of Jayapura and Biak, to markets in all other parts of Indonesia and abroad. Data from 1999 shows that the Merauke Regency has the best network of roads with a total length of 2,287.18 km, from a total 15,845.83 km for the whole province.

Air Transportation

A number of airlines serve domestic flights from Jakarta, with stopovers at Ujung Pandang in Sulawesi, to an.international standard airport in Biak (6 hours plus 90 minutes stopover), Jayapura (7 hours with 45·minutes stopover), and Sarong (5 hours 35 minutes plus 1 hour 40 minutes stopover). Within Papua, many other airfields are capable of taking jet aircraft as well as smaller planes. The airport at Wamena in central Papua is to be upgraded to take large aircraft by 2004. Rendani airport in Manokwari Regency is also to be improved.

Sea Transportation

Sea transport provides a vital means for passenger and cargo transportation in this huge province. The main seaports serving the province are at Jayapura, Sarong, Biak and Merauke. Together they account for 62 percent of all port calls in Papua. A host of smaller ports of various sizes and facilities are scattered around the province (including inland river ports) to support intra­provincial sea and river trade.

Power

Although all major cities and many smaller towns have electricity, it is not yet available throughout the entire province. Huge potential exists in Papua’s rivers and lakes for the development of hydropower.

Water Supply

Investment has also been injected into developing water resources in the urban centers,.rural settlements and for agricultural irrigation. Again, however, further investment in water supply is needed.

Telecommunications

Indonesia’s domestic satellite system, with a number of earth stations in Papua, has improved both telecommunications and the reception of television programs. Long distance calls are possible from any district capital in Papua to other cities within the province or Indonesia, as well as overseas. 45 percent of all telephone connections in Papua are located in the Jayapura Municipality and Sorong Regency.

Financial Services

In 1999 there were 132 banks operating in various economic centers of the province.

 Production and Export

Papua’s economy is dominated by resource-based activities, from the extraction of minerals to foresty and wood products and the cultivation and processing of basic agricultural commodities and fish/marine products. This is reflected both in exports and in the structure of its economy.

Papua Regional Grass Domestic Product for the year 2000 is Rp. 20.71 trilion, a 14 percent increase from the previous year. Mining and extraction industries carved the lion’s share with 62.84 percent of the total RGDP. This is followed by agriculture (17 percent) and services (5 percent).

The province enjoyed 3.22 percent economic growth during the year 2000. Financial and service sectors contributed significantly with a 71.36 percent growth during that year.

Most of Papua’s products are exported to Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea and in 2000 it was valued at US$ 965 million. Europe and the United States rank as second and third largest buyers of the province’s products.

Raw materials and non-food products made up 81.16 percent of Papua’s international trade commodities. Mineral oil, vegetable oil and fats contributed to just a little over 15 percent of the province’s export.

Indonesian Province of Papua

THE PEOPLE AND THE CULTURE OF PAPUA

Population

The national census of 2000 recorded the population of Papua at 2,110,708. This includes members of isolated or nomadic tribes, which numbers around 19,000 people. With an area of 421,981 square kilometers, the population density of Papua is 5 peopIe per square kilometer, making Papua the least populated province, of Indonesia.

By livelihood, the traditional Papuans are divided into three categories. The first are those who process sago trees for their staple food. They also fish in downstream rivers and beaches and on a limited scale also cultivate the lands. The processing of a sago tree involves a simple and speedy method before further processed into cakes or porridge. The second are nomads who live in the upstream of rivers where they process sago tree and hunt boars and other non-herded animals. These people do not cultivate the land, but occasionally fish in the rivers. The third are people who live in big valleys in the central mountain ranges. They do not process sago trees, but cultivate the land with yams, canes and other kinds plants. They live in small villages, which usually comprises one extended family. These people of the central mountain ranges and the Jayawijaya Highlands are famous for wearing penis gourds as their form of daily clothing.

The Province of Papua accommodates the most tribes and languages than all the other Indonesian provinces. Due to the many tribes and languages, Papuan culture is best described as diverse. The varying, cultures, from communities living in the coastal areas to those living in the high mountainous areas create the. mosaic of the cultures of Papua. The cultures of communities and tribes in the coastal areas have however been greatly influenced by incoming foreign cultures by way of interaction through trade and missionaries. On the other hand, the communities of Papua living in the hinterland and mountain areas are often inaccessible, thus many still practice their traditional

Cultures and Traditions.

Although the Papuans belong to the Melanesian race, they are distinguished into about 250 sub-groups or tribes on the basis of physical features, diiferences in languages, customs, artistic expressions and other cultural aspects. Every tribe has its own stratification system within its own community. The best-known tribes in Papua are the Asmat of the South Coast and the Dani of the Baliem Valley. The Asmats are famous for their distinct and unique arts, while the Danis are renowned for being the largest tribe with of distinct rituals and traditions.

The Province of Papua before being divided into Province of Papua and Province of West Papua

THE LAND OF PAPUA

Geography

On the map, the Island ‘of New Guinea, which is the second’ largest island in the world, looks quite similar to a giant bird or, some would argue, to the extinct dinosaur. The Province of Papua forms the western part of New. Guinea, that is the ‘head’, ‘neck’, ‘back’, ‘breast’, and ‘abdomen’ of the ‘bird’ or, the ‘dinosaur’, It occupies an area of 421,981 sq. Km., making it Indonesia’s largest province.

The Province of Papua borders with Papua New Guinea at 141° east longitude, a border decided upon by the Netherlands and Britain on May 16, 1895. The border line is drawn straight from the north to the south of the island with the exception of the line breaking to the left somewhere two- thirds down the line, following the meandering of the Fly River until it again reaches the 1410 east longitude.

More than seventy five percent of the half island of New Guinea or around 41 million hectares is still covered by dense and often impenetrable rainforest, much of it untouched. by man.’ More than 8.6 million hectares of the forest area are protected forests, about 4.7 million hectares are production forests, and around 11.7 million hectares are converted forests. The remainder of the land is covered in mangrove forest, marshlands and savannah. There are three types of beaches in Papua, muddy beaches, sandy beaches, and coral beaches. Papua is where the deepest of valleys and the highest ot mountains of Indonesia can be found.

The topography of Papua is divided into three parts, the Bird’s Head area, the area between the central mountains and the northern beaches, and the area south of the Jayawijaya Highlands. The Bird’s Head area is characterized by a series of mountain ranges, which is the continuation of the Jayawijaya Highlands. In parts of the northern and eastern beaches, mountains protrude to the sea, ‘making very steep coral beaches. The lowland is found in Berau Bay, which is directly under the Bird’s Head area and is full of swamplands and streams originating from the Bird’s Head area.

In the area between the central mountains and the northern beaches are the Jayawijaya Highlands, the central lake – lands area, the Northern Highlands, and the lowlands of northern Papua. The Jayawijaya Highlands is a series of mountain ranges that sprawl from west to east with peaks that reach 5,000 meters permanently covered with snow. The highest peak of the central mountain range is the Jayawijaya Summit (5,500 meters) and the second and third is the Trikora Summit (5,160 meters) and the Yamin Summit (5;100 meters). From the Jayawijaya Highlands flow hundreds of rivers and streams. Rivers that flow east pass through the lake – lands and here they are joined together with the Idenburg River that originates in the east and makes up the very Wide Mamberamo River that runs to the. Pacific in the north. The Northern Highlands consists of a succession of lower mountain ranges and the lowland in northern Papua is a long strip at land, mostly covered in swamp. The largest lake in Papua is Lake Paniai, followed by Lake Ronbenbai and Lake Sentani, both in the vicinity of Jayapura, and Lake Anggigita near Manokwari The area south of the Jayawijaya Highlands is mainly vast lowland where rivers coming from the southern part of. the Jayawijaya Highlands runs through before spilling out into the Arafura Sea. Most of the lowland consists of extensive swamplands.