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Jokowi sticks with plan to celebrate Christmas in Papua
President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo is sticking with his plan to celebrate Christmas in Papua despite mounting calls from a number of Papuan church leaders who are urging him to cancel his intention to join in on the festivities in the province, a minister said
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resident Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo is sticking with his plan to celebrate Christmas in Papua despite mounting calls from a number of Papuan church leaders who are urging him to cancel his intention to join in on the festivities in the province, a minister said.
'Celebrating Christmas in Papua is on the President's agenda and no one can cancel the plan,' said Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Susana Yembise, who also heads the National Christmas Celebration's organizing committee, in Jayapura on Tuesday.
Yembise said President Jokowi was scheduled to arrive in Jayapura on Dec. 27 and would attend a mass Christmas celebration in Papua Bangkit Square at the Sentani Airport, Jayapura regency, Papua.
Yembise monitored the Christmas celebration's preparations in Papua Bangkit Square shortly after she arrived in Jayapura on Tuesday. She later met with Pangdam XVII (Commander of Military Area XVII) Cendrawasih, Maj. Gen. Fransen G. Siahaan and other Christmas celebration organizing committee members.
As reported earlier, a number of church leaders in Papua issued a statement urging Jokowi to cancel his plan to celebrate Christmas in Papua, as an expression of disappointment over the Enarotali shooting incident that killed five civilians.
Commenting on the Enarotali shooting, Yembise said she deplored the incident that claimed the lives of five Papuan teenagers.
'I was in the UK when the Enarotali shooting occurred and I learned that children had fallen as victims in the incident. I'm very apprehensive about it: why could children become victims of the incident?' asked Yambise.
The minister said she had ordered related parties from the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry to investigate why children could fall victim to the shooting and what they were doing there when the incident occurred.
Yembise said there was a deputy minister who was responsible for child protection matters.
'I'm really sorry for the loss,' she said.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) says it is investigating the causes of the shooting incident, which also left 21 others injured.
'The Komnas HAM's investigation team led by Manager Nasution has collected data and information in the field and met with local people, government officials and police officers. The data and information will be presented in the commission's plenary meeting in January,' Komnas HAM commissioner Natalius Pigai told The Jakarta Post. (ebf)(+++)
