Timika, a city in West Papua, has become a site where an open war over money, involving the Indonesian military (TNI) and the police (POLRI), is taking place. In 2008 the U.S. mining giant Freeport McMoRan paid $8 million in support costs to security forces, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Last year $1.6 million of this money went to "allowances" for TNI and POLRI officers despite a 2007 Ministerial decree handing over all security for "vital national projects" (provit) to POLRI.
TNI had financial incentive to stage the attack last weekend that left Drew Grant, an Australian national, dead. A disturbance would show that POLRI was doing a poor job at providing security for this national project. At the same time POLRI is now in a situation, much like they were with the 2002 attacks that killed three teachers in Timika, where it is in their best interest to pursue evidence of TNI involvement in the ambush. The battle between TNI and POLRI in Timika is a microcosm for a war between these two institutions on a national level. Very lucrative security contracts at other vital national projects, like BP's Tangguh project in Bintuni Bay, are at stake.
The jury is still out about who conducted the attacks over the weekend. Allegations and denials are flying from all possible corners. If investigators identify marksmen, my first questions will be: Where did they get their guns? and Who trained them?
For more details of the $1.8 million "monthly allowance" see: Aubrey Belford (2009) "US Mining Giant Still Paying Indonesian Military", AFP, 23 March.
For details on Freeport's $8 million in broader "support costs" for some 1,850 Indonesian police and soldiers see: "DJ US Giant Freeport McMoran Still Paying Indonesia Military", Dow Jones Commodities News select via Comtex, 22 March 2009.
