Landscape of Paniai (IST)
Jayapura, 17/7 (Jubi) – Paniai student and youths rejected plans to split Paniai Barat Regency into two regencies.
“We refuse the split. Those who want the regional splits are government officials and legislators, but they have not brought any changes,” Coordinator of Coalition Team refusing the split of Paniai Barat Regency, Elius Pekey said in the press conference in Abepura, Jayapura Municipality on Thrusday (17/7).
The coalition team said there should be some criteria need to be completed to process the split. Geographically, the region would be restricted due to the construction of offices and buildings. And referred to the human resources, the region has not supported with many qualified graduates. Therefore, the coalition team as the agent of change firmly refused the split.
“There will rise the negative impacts for the traditional community. People would not have enough space to cultivating or hunting in the forest, etc. We would lose the forest as our food resources,” said Pekey.
A Paniai student representative of Jayapura, Pertinus Uti said they refused the split because there would be built some Police or Military offices following the physical development whose still judge the Papua indigenous people are still very closed with the Papua Free Movement or simply called them as separatist.
“People has a traumatic with the Police and Military in the past, so their presence would be frightened the people,” said Uti. (Jubi/Aprila/rom)
