goodmorningpapua.com – The Papuan People’s Assembly or MRP will send letter to the central government for asking for guarantees of a special policy to prioritize indigenous Papuans working in the smelter PT. Freeport Indonesia is currently building in East Java.
This was stated by Chairman I of the MRP, Yoel Luiz Mulait on Tuesday (26/10/2021). Mulait said that his party received information that the smelter being built by PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) in Gresik, East Java, will employ 40 thousand employees.
According to Mulait, indigenous Papuans as the group most impacted by PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining activities in Mimika Regency, Papua, must get an allocation of work opportunities of up to 50 percent of the total workers who will be employed by the smelter.
“We will convey, from the 40 thousand workers, it will be divided equally by 20 [thousand for indigenous Papuans], 20 [thousands for non-Papuans]. [The proposal] will go through a mechanism process at the institution, [agreed] through a plenary [meeting] [MRP], so that there are no more small bugs who say that [the proposal] is an invalid decision,” said Mulait.
Mulait stated that the results of the plenary meeting would later be conveyed through the MRP’s official letter to the central government. Mulait also wants the government and PT Freeport Indonesia to build a mechanism to involve the MRP in filling out the allocation of 20 thousand job vacancies for indigenous Papuans.
“We will officially write to the government, [so that] 20,000 [PTFI smelter workers] are accepted [based on] the recommendation from the MRP, and all those who are accepted must be black with curly hair, must be native Papuans. We don’t want [other] people going in and out of work, [while] the MRP doesn’t know,” said Mulait.
Started emphasized that the MRP would take this step, because the central government ignored the Papua Provincial Government’s request for PTFI to build a smelter in Papua. Start reminded that PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining activities are carried out in Papua, and that indigenous Papuans are the group most affected by PTFI’s mining activities.
Mulait reminded that if the central government wants to prove that Indonesia is not only exploiting Papua’s natural resources, then indigenous Papuans must be prioritized in recruiting PTFI smelter workers.
“If you really want to build [Papua], not only want to take natural resources there, but also build human resources, [all] workers cannot be from East Java. There must be a portion [of job vacancies] for ulayat rights owners,” said Mulait. The head of the MRP Religious Working Group, Helena Hubi, said the central government’s policy of allowing PTFI to build smelters outside Papua proves that the government is not serious about the plight of the Papuan people.
“The government is more concerned with natural resources in Papua, gold and forests. Will the native Papuans be prosperous tomorrow? Don’t let Papua Special Autonomy Volume 2 go down, we Papuans are finished,” said Hubi.
Hubi stated that the door to investment in Papua was closed, because investment in Papua was only aimed at extracting natural resources of Papua, and ignoring the life of indigenous Papuans.
“The proof is that the smelter was built in East Java, so what do Papua want? So it’s better not to give permits to new companies,” explained Hubi.