Jayapura – Irian Jaya Governor Freddy Numberi has confirmed that the government has rejected the Irian Jaya people's demand for the independence of West Papua (Irian Jaya) which representatives of the Irian Jaya people conveyed to President B.J. Habibie during a recent dialogue.

The governor confirmed this in reply to questions from journalists at Sentani Airport, Jayapura upon his return from Jakarta on 13th March.

Numberi said the head of state did not say that the government rejected the demand for the independence of West Papua during the dialogue with the Irian Jaya people's representatives.

"President Habibie simply said: the Irian Jaya people need to reflect on what they demanded. The conclusion is that the head of state disagrees with the Irian Jaya people's demand for independence and secession from the unitary Republic of Indonesia, " he said.

The governor said the dialogue between the president and the Irian Jaya people's representatives sponsored by the Irian Jaya People's Reconciliation Front failed or did not achieve any target.

Numberi added that the dialogue failed because the dialogue did not yield any concrete measures to develop the largest province. "During the dialogue, the people's representatives should have come up with important things related to the development of the land of the cenderawasih [birds which are native to Irian Jaya] such as the development of human resources and other sectors," he said.

He said the demand for the independence of West Papua which the Irian Jaya people's representatives conveyed to President Habibie, was in fact an attempt to remind the government to pay serious attention to the development of the easternmost province.

He said huge funds are needed and the local sons and daughters must be trained to develop Irian Jaya. "The training of the sons and daughters of Irian Jaya has been so unclear that they have been less competitive than their brothers and sisters in other provinces," he said.