Jakarta – The Indonesian army will send an additional three battalions of troops to Papua. "The reason being, to provide security on the border," army spokesman Brig-Gen Hotma Ngaraja Panjaitan, told Tempo yesterday.

According to Hotma, when and where the additional three battalions would be deployed had not been confirmed because it depended on the TNI [Indonesian National Military Force] budget. Besides that, he said, there were still dissenting voices which considered that additional troops were excessive.

Yet, said Hotma, the ideal number of troops in Papua was nine battalions or one division of organic troops. "Currently, there are four battalions on duty in Papua which are integrated into the XVII Trikora Military Area Command and two battalions under operational command," said Hotma. These four organic battalions were with four Military Provincial Commands, namely Jayapura, Biak, Sorong and Merauke Military Provincial Commands, which each had one battalion consisting of 700 personnel.

Separately, the chairman of the West Irian Jaya Provincial People's Representative Council (DPRD), Jimmy Demianus Ijie, asked for an additional Military Provincial Command in his region, because, said Jimmy, the Papua region was expansive and rife with crime. "Illegal logging, fishing and mining, if not monitored, would cause losses to the state," said Jimmy. Besides that, he said, additional TNI troops were needed in Papua particularly to guard the borders with the Republic of Palau and Papua New Guinea.

According to military observer from the University of Indonesia, Andi Widjajanto, an additional three battalions in Papua was a normal matter, if based on the criteria of guarding borders and regions which were prone to conflict.

[BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific]