The violent act that led to the death of civilians in Papua is a barbaric act that the government must respond to immediately.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - A lawmaker has urged the government to take stern action against the separatist group involved in the shooting of eight employees of telecommunications company PT Palapa Timur Telematika (PT PTT) in Puncak district, Papua.



"The violent act that led to the death of civilians in Papua is a barbaric act that the government must respond to immediately,” member of Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR), Sukamta, said here on Monday.



The government needs to take stern and measurable steps to solve the case, he added.



First, it needs to probe the tragic incident thoroughly and collect facts on the spot, he said.



"Second, it needs to arrest and try the perpetrators, and third, it needs to conceive better security procedures to protect the people of Papua against various violence threats from terrorist groups TNPB (West Papua National Liberation Soldiers) and OPM (Free Papua Organization)," he added.



He said the PTT employees who fell victim to the “irresponsible attack” were in Beoga sub-district, Puncak, Papua, to repair a tower base transceiver (BTS) 3 set up by state-owned telecommunication operator PT Telkomsel for the benefit of the people of Papua.



The terror attack confirmed that separatist groups TPNPB and OPM are trying to impede development in Papua and stoke fear among the people, he added.



"The incident in which these armed groups shot to death 31 Trans Papua road construction workers in 2018 is still fresh in our mind. There have also been other similar incidents targeting civilians,” he noted.


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It seems that the string of incidents are aimed at terrorizing and attacking more and more civilians so that they draw attention from the government, Sukamta said.



Therefore, the government needs to study the social, political, and security dynamics in Papua thoroughly as it endeavors to take pre-emptive measures, he added.


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"The government must be more serious about handling the problem in Papua. The effort to expedite development programs set forth in the Presidential regulation concerning the Steering Board for the Acceleration of Development under Papua Special Autonomy (BP3OKP) and the Presidential regulation concerning the Master Plan for the Acceleration of Development under the Papua Special Autonomy 2021–2041 (RIPPP) must be able to address the fundamental problem in Papua,” he said.



The fundamental problem that must be resolved soon is empowering the people of Papua so that the acceleration of development is able to improve the quality of human resources in Papua, he explained.



The government has appointed PT PTT as the developer of the East Palapa Ring Project, a strategic national telecommunications infrastructure project for Papua, West Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku provinces, he said.



The attack occurred on March 2, 2022, around 3 a.m. Eastern Indonesian Standard Time (WIT) at the company’s B3 Repeater Site in Puncak district, he noted.


Related news: Minister Plate condoles death of PT PTT workers in Papua


The armed group attacked nine PT PTT workers, killing eight, and damaged a number of buildings and infrastructure around the location.



The company had been making attempts to evacuate the bodies of the eight victims and the lone survivor since March 3, 2022, by carefully considering the prevailing security and weather conditions.

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Translator: Imam Budilaksono, Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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