T

he New Zealandgovernment has allocated Rp 20 million (US$ 2 million) in aid for the Papua Community Policing program, which is slated to commence in September. It is a three-year program in which members of the NZ police will run a Training for Trainers (TOT) program to work on
community-based approaches for Indonesian Police officers in Papua.

'€œThere will be two NZ police officers stationed in Papua on a rotational basis, and will be helped by a number of instructors,'€ NZ Ambassadorto Indonesia David Taylor said on Monday after meeting with Papua Police chiefInsp. Gen. Tito Karnavian.

'€œThe main purpose is to foster relations between the community and the police in Papua,'€ he added.

Taylor said that his government respected thefull territorial integrity of Indonesiain Papua, and would fully support the central and regional governments'€™approach in prioritizing the economic aspect to address many issues in Papua.

The NZ government has also rejected any form of violence and offense because they do not resolve problems, including actions by armed civilians that disrupt security.

'€œAll parties should sit together and negotiate to find solutions for the issues and challenges faced by Papua,'€ said Taylor.

Commenting on this, Tito said he was optimistic that the program offered by theNZ government would support law enforcement in Papua.

'€œThere are tough ways and there are soft ways to deal with violence and wealways use hard measures as a last resort,'€ (asw/dic)