Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua governor JP Solossa has expressed his fear of a possible delay of several days in the legislative elections scheduled for April 5 for technical, geographical and logistical reasons.

Speaking before visiting high-ranking government officials, Solossa said most Papuans in remote areas had not yet been informed about the general election, and that election materials had not reached all remote regencies.

"The challenging geographical condition and transportation problems have hindered local election organizers in reaching remote areas to relate all necessary information on the elections," he said at a meeting here on Tuesday.

Attending the meeting were home minister Hari Sabarno, General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin, Indonesian Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, who were there to observe election preparations in the province.

The governor also said that of the 20 regencies in the province excluding West Irian Jaya, nine had not yet received any materials for the legislative elections. "Only 11 regencies have received ballot boxes, while eight other necessary materials, including ballot booths, ballot papers, ink and list of legislative candidates, have not yet reached all regencies," he said.

He said regents agreed at a meeting on Monday in Jayapura to postpone the legislative election if the materials did not reach remote regencies several days before the elections.

The regencies in question can only be reached by plane, and aside from the infrequent fights, changing weather conditions had often delayed flights, said the governor.

Responding to the growing doubt, KPU chairman Nazaruddin concurred with local officials that the general election in the province might be delayed, adding that the KPU had readied a contingency plan for a worst case scenario.

He was, however, annoyed by the governor's report on the slow distribution of election materials, as the KPU had prioritized delivery to Papua along with several other provinces because of their geography.

"I don't know where the elections materials for the province have been held up, but the KPU has already sent them from Jakarta," he said, adding he would check up on the matter.

Nazaruddin also said the KPU had asked the Indonesian Military to help distribute the materials in the case of an emergency.

Da'i said he was optimistic that the elections would be free of disturbances from the local separatist movement, as the police would deploy 6,000 officers and a small airplane to maintain security during the elections.