Roundup: Indonesian president mulls addressing separatism in easternmost region

During a visit to the easternmost province of Papua, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has showed good gesture aimed at addressing separatism in the region by releasing jailed insurgents, allowing news coverage by foreign media and inaugurating telecommunication and infrastructure projects.

The decision to free the insurgents was aimed at advancing reconciliation and creating peace in the mineral and gas-rich province that has been seeing armed conflicts between the military and insurgents who seek self-determination and separation from Indonesia.

In the initial phase, the government freed five insurgents who were sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.

"We want all (of them) be freed eventually. Not only those five men. Later on, the government wants to build Papua together with them. They could contribute in farming sector or becoming temporary civil servants," the president said in Abepura, the provincial capital of Papua on Saturday.

Indonesian Military Commander General Moeldoko confirmed that the proposal to free the insurgents jailed as political prisoners in Papua has been discussed at cabinet meetings.

"It would be continued. The president would give clemency to all of them," Moeldoko said while accompanying the president during his four-day visit in Papua and West Papua provinces known collectively as Papua.

At a press conference in the easternmost city of Merauke in Papua province, President Widodo allowed foreign journalists to travel freely in the region for media coverage.

"As of now they are free to make coverage in Papua like in many other places across the nation," the president said.

Special permits were needed for foreigners to reach the conflict-ridden region.

Indonesian authorities briefly jailed French journalists who were covering insurgency in Papua a few years ago.

In a bid to address poor transportation in the mountainous region, President Widodo promised on Sunday to complete the Trans- Papua Highway, a 3,985-km road connecting cities in the two provinces.

The president hoped the project could be completed by 2019 before the end of his tenure. The government has allocated some 4 trillion rupiah (about 300 million U.S. dollars) to finance the project.

President Widodo also inaugurated a telecommunication project worth 3.6 trillion rupiah (about 275 million U.S. dollars) in the region, carried out by the state-run telecom firm PT Telkom.

The 8,772-km fiber optic network links 34 districts in Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua. It was part of the nation's fiber optic cable infrastructure that spans to the westernmost city of Sabang in Aceh province. Endi