Therefore, the voting and vote counting will take place in Yayapa.Sorong, Southwest Papua (ANTARA) - The General Elections Commission (KPU)-Southwest Papua Office has decided to relocate 31 polling stations from five sub-districts of Maybrat district to Yayapa area in Aifat Timur sub-district for security reasons.
The decision was made after KPU officers met with representatives of local communities to discuss matters related to the upcoming elections, Andarias Kambu from the KPU-Southwest Papua Office said here on Monday.
The participants of the meeting agreed to relocate the polling stations to Yayapa because the five sub-districts in Maybrat are vulnerable to security disturbances caused by armed Papuan groups operating in the district, he explained.
"Therefore, the voting and vote counting will take place in Yayapa," he informed, adding that local police officers, assisted by their counterparts from the military, will secure the polling stations.
Through the measure, voting on election day, scheduled on February 14, 2024, is expected to run peacefully and voter participation is likely to remain high, he said.
As per the KPU-Southwest Papua Office's records, on election day, 440,826 registered voters will visit polling stations set up in the districts of Sorong, Sorong Selatan, Maybrat, Tambrauw, and Raja Ampat, as well as Sorong city.
According to the KPU, there are 2,156 polling stations across the province.
ANTARA has earlier reported that over the past few years, armed Papuan groups have often employed hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel and mounted acts of terror against civilians in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak to stoke fear among the people.
The targets of such acts of terror have included construction workers, motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers, teachers, students, street food vendors, and even civilian aircraft.
On December 2, 2018, a group of armed Papuan separatists brutally killed 31 workers from PT Istaka Karya who were engaged in the Trans Papua project in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi sub-district, Nduga district.
On March 2, 2022, several members of an armed Papuan group operating in Beoga sub-district, Puncak district, killed eight Palaparing Timur Telematika (PTT) workers, who were repairing a base transceiver station (BTS) tower belonging to state-owned telecommunications operator Telkomsel.
On February 7, 2023, New Zealander pilot Phillip Mark Mehrtens was taken hostage by the Egianus Kogoya-led armed group. He was piloting an aircraft belonging to Indonesian airline Susi Air when he was captured by the armed group. The members of the group set his aircraft on fire shortly after it landed in Nduga district.
On October 16, 2023, Papuan separatists attacked several traditional gold miners in Yahukimo district, Papua Pegunungan province, killing seven of them.
On November 25, 2023, four soldiers were killed in a gunfight with Papuan rebels in Paro sub-district, Nduga district, Papua province.
Then, on January 19, 2024, a gunfight broke out between Indonesian security personnel and members of an armed separatist group operating in Intan Jaya district, Central Papua.
A Brimob ranger named Alfando Steve Karamoy sustained gunshot wounds in the gunfight. He succumbed to his injuries at Intan Jaya Public Hospital.
Karamoy was a National Police elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) ranger assigned to the Operation Peace Cartenz Task Force in Central Papua province.
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Translator: Yuvensius LB, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2024
