VZCZCXRO6745
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0640/01 0650924
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 060924Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3624
INFO RUEHZS/ASEAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 5755
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0491
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 1377
ZEN/AMCONSUL SURABAYA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000640 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM AMCONSUL SURABAYA #0027 
 
E.O. 12958: NA 
TAGS: PHUM EAID PINS PREF ECON PGOV ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA: MALUKU/AMBON REBUILDING EFFORTS CONTINUE TO MAKE 
PROGRESS 
 
REFS: A. 06 Jakarta 5366 
 
      ¶B. 05 Jakarta 4890 
      ¶C. 05 Jakarta 3145 
      ¶D. 05 Jakarta 0240 
      ¶E. 04 Jakarta 9264 
      ¶F. 04 Jakarta 9254 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In a two-day trip to Ambon, capitol of Maluku 
province and an area once characterized by sectarian conflict, Feb. 
22-23, Consulate General Surabaya Public Affairs Officer (PAO) met 
with a variety of local contacts to discuss the current situation in 
the area and ideas for future public diplomacy outreach. Time and 
again, contacts reiterated local commitment to continued peace and 
strong support for community development efforts, noting that the 
current challenges facing Ambon are related to poverty and the 
area's tarnished reputation following several years of violence, not 
the potential for serious violence itself. Their commitment was 
demonstrated recently after two recent incidents involving homemade 
explosive devices March 3 and 5. Police are treating the events as 
criminal rather than terrorist acts. Both Christian and Muslim 
leaders publicly condemned the attacks, which are not seen as 
sectarian in nature.  Malukan political, religious and business 
leaders are confident that the enormous efforts put in to building 
inter-religious dialog over the past three years are paying 
dividends.   END SUMMARY. 
 
PUTTING A NEW FACE ON AMBON 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The trip was the second visit made by PAS Surabaya in two 
years and the Consulate's ninth in three years. During the visit, 
PAS met with community leaders, media, and alumni, researched 
potential Ambassador Cultural Fund projects, and met with students 
and teachers at University Pattimura.  Pattimura, the province's 
major public university, is struggling to return to its previous 
position as one of the most respected higher education institutions 
in Eastern Indonesia. 
 
¶3. (U) According to contacts, Ambon is working hard to move past the 
years of sectarian conflict that broke out in 1999. (Background 
note: At a superficial level, the violence erupted after a simple 
traffic accident, sparking unrest caused by the deeper social issues 
resulting from several decades of transmigration of Javanese and 
Sulawesi Muslims to what was a predominately Christian province (and 
concurrent suspicions of "government-sponsored Islamization") as 
well as interference from outside provocateurs - both Muslim and 
Christian. End note.) The 2002 Malino accords brought Christian and 
Muslim leaders together and marked the official end to the violence. 
While there were some minor incidents in 2003, the situation has 
been calm and stabile for the last 3 years (Reftels.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ambonese at all levels are trying to work across religious 
and ethnic lines to rebuild the province. PAO was impressed in 
particular by the dedication of religious and community leaders to 
work together for Maluku's continued development. Several 
inter-religious groups conduct programs in local schools and among 
community groups to promote cross cultural understanding and 
conflict resolution. They are also working together to educate local 
residents about the causes of past conflicts. Several contacts said 
they believe locals are now more aware of the role provocateurs from 
outside the region - Laskar Jihad among them - played in promoting 
violence in the past. Community leaders of different faiths also 
often publicly work and meet together to set an example for their 
communities. During a dinner with young religious leaders, Jacky 
Manuputty, Director of the Maluku Interfaith Institution for 
Humanitarianism, cited comments made by Sidney Jones when she 
recently visited Ambon as evidence of the significant changes that 
have taken place. The two had spent several months working together 
during the conflict and, according to Manuputty, she said, "Ambon 
was a completely different place" than it was only a few years ago. 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) The combination of improved security and local commitment 
to development will allow the USG to reopen a more formal 
relationship with the University of Pattimura in Ambon with the 
expected placement of an English Language Fellow  next year. 
(Background Note: Pattimura has a long history of cooperation with 
USG, mainly USAID, Fulbright and the former USIS, but those 
relationships largely fell dormant after 1999. End Note.)  Pattimura 
is well aware of the battle it faces to rebuild itself and its 
reputation given recent history. 
 
¶6. (SBU) There is intense interest among young religious leaders and 
academics in developing civic education programs with strong focus 
on cross-cultural understanding and conflict resolution. Civic 
 
JAKARTA 00000640  002 OF 002 
 
 
education programs are particularly important given the segregation 
between religious groups in Maluku, which limits opportunities for 
communities to learn about other religions and engage in interfaith 
dialogue.  Local religious leaders solicited PAO for support for 
sustainable education programs in the region that would give 
residents the tools to avoid future conflict. Another potential area 
for future cooperation and support is skills training which would 
expand opportunities for residents beyond the most currently viable 
career paths of military or police force. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Throughout the trip, PAO saw evidence of rebuilding efforts 
- new buildings are going up, there are more foreign visitors, and 
contacts spoke of new foreign investment, mainly in natural 
resources from British and Russian firms. Local leaders are trying 
to promote the region and are working on several large public 
displays to showcase the province's newfound stability, including 
reviving the Darwin to Ambon yacht race. The yacht race was held 
annually from 1976 to 1998 when it was halted because of sectarian 
violence. Last year, four Australian boats sailed to Ambon to 
participate in a 30th anniversary celebration and as a sign of the 
Australian commitment to restart the annual event (at present, 
scheduled for July 2007.) Local residents are hoping the event will 
bring hundreds of Indonesian and foreign tourists to Ambon, giving 
them an important opportunity to demonstrate how much the area has 
changed. 
 
DESPITE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES, CHALLENGES REMAIN 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶8. (SBU) Maluku remains one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia 
with 55% of it residents earning less than $1 per day, despite 
significant natural resources. Post contacts consistently say that 
economic development is most hampered by the lack of sea 
transportation infrastructure between the more than 600 islands in 
Maluku and to other parts of Indonesia. Remote areas have little or 
no access to transportation and only local markets for their goods. 
Local officials have plans to develop a ferry and small cargo ship 
fleet to help improve market access but do not have the funds to 
purchase ships. The lack of transportation infrastructure also 
causes significant difficulties for the provincial government and 
police, preventing a quick response to local issues and needs and 
slowing implementation of major government programs. 
 
¶9. (SBU) While the economic climate is improving, a contact from 
Ambon Express noted that 80% of new investments are in real estate 
development, not new enterprises. He voiced concern that much of the 
province's economic optimism is based on Maluku's abundant natural 
resources and potential for foreign investment, rather than the 
actual influx of new business. Given the complications foreign 
investment in resource extraction has caused in other parts of 
Indonesia, he wondered if local officials were being realistic in 
their expectations, both in terms of time and financial benefit. 
(Note: Many of the new buildings are "replacements" for structures 
destroyed during the years of sectarian violence rather than new 
construction. End Note.) 
 
INTERFAITH DIALOGUE THE KEY TO AN END OF VIOLENCE 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Maluku is making an important comeback, overcoming serious 
sectarian violence and charting consistent improvement in social, 
security, and religious issues. The commitment by local leaders to 
move forward and not repeat the mistakes of the past is an example 
which other areas of Indonesia could learn from. These days, local 
squabbles no longer spark larger violence and are handled as routine 
law enforcement actions. For example, a bombing incident at Yos 
Sudarso Port March 3 involved two neighborhood groups fighting over 
control of the port using a homemade, low grade explosive device (13 
people were injured by the explosion). Subsequently, a similar 
unexploded device was identified at an Ambon shopping center March 
¶5. Police are treating the bombs as criminal acts, with no apparent 
links to former sectarian issues. The heads of the Christian Synod 
and Muslim Ulema Council have publicly condemned the events. Post's 
Ambon contacts tell us that residents attribute the two events to 
purely private disagreements over access to a new local market and 
there are no reports of disruptions in local life. Malukan 
political, religious and business leaders, while disturbed by the 
bombs, see no link to past sectarian issues and are confident that 
the enormous efforts put in to building inter-religious dialog over 
the past three years are paying dividends. 
 
HEFFERN