The Jakarta Post, 2/10/2003 2:19:53 PM
Papuan students protest govt plan to divide the province
JAKARTA (JP): About one thousand students from variousuniversities in the Papua
capital of Jayapura held a rally Monday to protest the government's decision to divide
the province into three, Antara reported.
Gathered in front of the Papua council building, the students said the move would
increase criminal activity in the resource-rich, but less developed province.
Some students carried banners which read, "It Is Untimely to Separate Us", "Madame
Mega, Do Not Separate Us With Your Decree", and "President has been Pitting Us
against One Another".
Separately, about one hundred Papuan students in Jakarta staged similar protests at
the office of the Coordinating Ministry of Security and Political Affairs.
The government last week issued Presidential Decree No 1/2003 in a bid to
implement Law No 45/1999 over the establishment of West Irian Jaya, Central Irian
Jaya and Papua provinces, as well as Paniai, Puncak Jaya and Mimika districts.
The central government claimed that Papua -- three-and-a-half times larger than Java
-- was just too large to be managed by onee provincial administration.
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