Kartika Sari | Papuan Journalist
The government is giving signs that it will continue development in Papua. The Papuans also look forward to the continuation of Papua Special Autonomy because it has provided many benefits for the progress of the Papua region.
The central government distributed support to citizens with the existence of Law No. 21 of 2001 on Papua Special Autonomy. This matter was informed by the Head of the Legal Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs R. Gani Muhammad during the trial on Issue 41 / PUU-XVI / 2019. The problems raised by Krisman Dedi Awi Janul Fonataba and Darius Nawipa were held in October 2019 than in the Plenary Court Room.
In his statement on behalf of the Government, the Papua Special Autonomy Law is part of the support of the central government to use the democratic features that exist in modern countries such as political parties, elections, and people’s representative institutions so that various aspirations can be channeled properly and have strong and efficient legality for the achievement of democratic life.
Papua Special Autonomy is the granting of broader authority to the Papua Province and the Papuan people to control and manage themselves within the framework of the Republic of Indonesia. For Gani, the broader authority also means greater responsibility.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) through the Head of Sub-Directorate for Papua and West Papua, Directorate General of Autonomy, Budi Arwan, refutes the assumption about the failure of special autonomy in Papua. Budi said that everything has been done, Papua’s Special Autonomy is very useful, but it still needs to be better socialized.
Budi said, it would be unfair if the matter was said to have run aground, the problem was the lack of socialization from the local government itself, which resulted in missed communications among residents.
He said that autonomy is not only for political access, nor is it merely for distributing money to the regions, but also for regional development programs.
One of the traditional leaders of Yoka village, Jayapura City, Titus Mebri, stated that if the implementation of Law No. 21 of 2001 on Special Autonomy for Papua (Otsus Papua) is not entirely a failure as some have claimed.
Although there are still some who say that Otsus Papua has failed, there are many facts that Otsus Papua has succeeded in improving the welfare of Papuans.
For him, through Otsus, development in the land of Papua has become very rapid, there have been regional expansion that has shortened the span of government control and made Papuans living in villages able to receive education both for primary level education up to higher education.
In terms of health services, there are many health workers in the villages, and many Papuan children who are currently medical personnel, nurses to doctors.
Therefore, Titus asked all parties to join hands to support the sustainability of Special Autonomy for Papua Volume II.
Titus said if there was no Special Autonomy for Papua and only hoped that the APBD and APBN, Papua would be left behind with other regions in Indonesia. That is from a funding perspective only, while from a partiality side it is also left behind.
Regarding the current Papua Special Autonomy, Titus suggested that an analysis of its weaknesses and strengths should be carried out so that later the sustainability of the Papua Special Autonomy could be more optimal and could make Papuans progress and not be marginalized.
The existence of Papua’s Special Autonomy can be a middle route to strengthen Papuan integration as well as a bridge to knit peace and build prosperity on the Earth of Cenderawasih. With the existence of this special autonomy, it shows the commitment of the Indonesian government to the development of Papua.
It is also through Papua’s Special Autonomy, that indigenous Papuans are also stipulated as regional heads based on Article 12 of 21/2001 concerning Special Autonomy for Papua Province, the Governor and Deputy Governor must be Papuan.
The Chief of the Mansim Tribe, Frans Mansim said that, if there are Papuans who reject Otsus, it means that this group does not understand the Papua Special Autonomy Fund. Although the Papua Special Autonomy Fund has not been fully enjoyed by all Papuans.
Like the great chief of the Mansim tribe, he appealed to the people to support the plan to extend Otsus volume 2, to improve the welfare of all Papuans.
Papua and West Papua are regions that require attention from the central government, therefore Otsus is a meaningful matter to realize the development of Papua and West Papua, with the existence of Otsus volume 2, it is hoped that development acceleration will occur in the very eastern part of Indonesia.
