Jayapura – Major-General Nurdin Zainal, commander of the Trikora/XVII division, has announced that Kostrad, the Army Strategic Command will set up a base in Timika District, Papua in the very near future.

He said that Timika has been chosen as the base camp for Kostrad because C140 Hercules aircraft can land there. At times when troop reinforcements are needed in a hurry, Timika is the most strategically placed location.

Kostrad units will be located in Papua because the three battalions are already in place, according to Nurdin, plus the additional three organic battalions being prepared for West Papua (Battalion 754 in Wamena, Battalion 755 in Merauke and Battalion 756 in Timika) are considered as not being adequate.

Between now and 2014, more battalions will be sent to Papua, in addition to the three organic battalions already there, each with a larger number of troops than normal. Battalions in Papua will consist of 1,111 personnel (a battalion normally consists of at most 800 men).

In addition there will be a central unit of men, composed of Kostrad forces consisting of brigades and, below the brigades, three or four battalions.

In addition, according to normal practice, when Kostrad troops are used, they are usually backed up by support combat regiments and service units.

It is hope, said Nurdin, that the additional troops will mean that Papua can handle its own defence, without calling for reinforcements from the centre. This means that for the purposes of defending this huge island, there will be six battalions reinforced by KOSTRAD troops. But this will not be sufficient, bearing in mind that the territory is three and a half times the size of Java,' said Nurdin. The future programme will ensure that there are sufficient troops in Papua, he said.

He said this build up of troops will incur huge costs at a time when the state finances are not in good shape. The TNI only receives 34 per cent of the funding it needs from the budget for minimal requirements. This means that the build up of troops in Papua will have to conform with available funding.

He said that there were no plans to set up a new Kodam (the military command normally created at provincial level) based in Manokwari, capital of the new province of West Irian Jaya Province. He said it was sufficient to have only one Kodam in Papua, but the number of Korems and Kodims (district and sub-district commands) will be increased.

[Translation from Tapol.]