The government’s presence in Papua is a form of attention to Papua’s progress. However, this progress is often disturbed by the Papuan Separatist and Terrorist Group (KST), so that people feel disturbed and rejection of KST continues to flow from the community.
Rejection of KST was also launched by the people of Kombut District who live on the border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea in Boven Digoel Regency, South Papua Province. This rejection was conveyed by the Head of Kombut Village Alfons Katem and the Traditional Chair of Kombut Village Imanuel Wopon in the presence of the Acting Governor of South Papua Dr. Ir. Apoli Safanpo, ST, MT, Danrem 174/ATW Brigadier General TNI Agus Widodo, SIP, M.SI, Danlantamal S.Sos, Dandim 1711/Boven Digoel Lt. Col. Czi Agustinus Sala’pa Ressa, ST and Pamtas Task Force Commander Lt. Col. Inf. Syafurddin Mutasidasi, SE.
Imanual as the Traditional Leader firmly stated that his party rejects the existence of KST. He argued that his party wanted development and wanted to make the region more advanced without any interference from KST which often made people anxious and felt insecure.
He admitted that so far there had been no KST in Kombut Village, but learned from experience several years earlier, in several villages in Boven Digoel some people exodused to PNG because of political problems. Of course this doesn’t want to happen again.
The Head of Kombut Village, Alfons Katem, also expressed the same thing. According to Alfons, he and the community reject all actions taken by KST. Because after all, the Republic of Indonesia is a fixed price. His party together with the security forces, in this case the TNI/Polri, are ready to defend the borders of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.
On this occasion, Alfons Katem asked the government, both regional and provincial governments, to pay attention to development on the border, especially in Kombut Village. He hopes that road infrastructure will be paid attention to so that development can run well and have an impact on improving the community’s economy.
Indigenous Papuan people are also known to not want to associate with KST gangs, this is because KST not only attacks security forces, but also threatens innocent local residents. It’s natural that this hatred arises because KST likes to spread terror which disrupts community activities such as buying and selling in markets.
KST with capital from firearms does not actually make Papua safe, but instead makes peace in Papua damaged. If it is like this, action of rejection and criticism of this group really needs to be carried out. Because maintaining security in Papua is a shared responsibility between the community and the TNI/Polri apparatus.
Mahfud MD as Coordinating Minister (Menko) for Law and Security (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD said that enforcement against KST needs to be carried out, because this group has destroyed harmony amidst the peace of society. This was also Mahfud MD’s answer to accusations from one of the church organizations that the government had never responded to requests for dialogue related to resolving the Papuan conflict.
The existence of KST in Papua with all its depraved actions so far has certainly caused endless fear for the Papuan people. It is not wrong if Papuans are inflamed and express their jealousy towards their compatriots and compatriots in other regions who can enjoy the dynamics of normal life without fear of sudden attacks from KST.
KST members always accuse them of being spies to attack civilians. It was recorded that they had also shot a motorbike taxi driver because they were suspected of being police intelligence. However, these accusations could not be proven because the police denied them. They shot other people carelessly, even though their status was the same as Papuans who live and breathe on the land of Cenderawasih.
KST has significantly undermined security and peace in Papua, a series of terror incidents such as burning public facilities and shootings have made the Papuan people unsympathetic to what KST is doing. So you can be sure that the people living in Papua will support the efforts of the security forces from the TNI/Polri in protecting the people from the terror launched by KST.
KST is like a rebel group that has no direction, their big leader is also abroad. The actions they carried out seemed like actions without command, brutal and only resulted in chaos.
Rejection of KST is certainly not an action without foundation, especially since the group already has a track record as a group that enjoys destroying public facilities such as airports, health centers and terminals.
