Derri R. | Papuan Observer
Senator or DPD RI member from West Papua Province, Dr. Filep Wamafma hopes that the Provincial Government of West Papua will be transparent and support an audit of the Special Autonomy (Otsus) funds and other budgets sourced from Otsus funds.
Therefore, Filep Wamafma asked the West Papua Provincial Government to publish the flow or distribution of funds sourced from the Special Autonomy Fund, including grant funds.
“The publication of the flow of Otsus funds is very important as part of the availability and service of public information, so that no one or the public will say that they do not receive Otsus funds”
On the other hand, according to Filep, if the West Papua Provincial Government is very secretive regarding the allocation of grants and Otsus funds, it will have many implications for the suspicions of many parties regarding the system and mechanism for the distribution of Otsus funds and the details of their use. Previously, the Provincial Government of West Papua had delivered grant assistance to several institutions in West Papua lembaga
The West Papua Provincial Government said that the grant funds were sourced from the APBD worth 375 billion while simultaneously carrying out the socialization of Minister of Home Affairs Regulation Number 99 of 2019 regarding guidelines for grants and social assistance.
Filep also asked the Papua Provincial Government to audit the Special Autonomy funds and other budgets sourced from the Special Autonomy funds. According to him, this can also provide clarity to the community and erode public distrust of the government’s performance and the impact of the Otsus policy in Papua.
This member of Committee I DPD RI is of the opinion that the Papua Provincial Government must explain the source of the grant funds provided. Filep said that until now there is still a pooling of sources of local government funds, including from the Special Autonomy Fund. On the other hand, different conditions occur where the people of Papua generally feel that they do not enjoy the Otsus funds and this leads to actions against Otsus in various regions.
In addition to appreciating the Regional Government for budgeting grant funds, he sees the need for openness to the public and conveying groups or organizations as well as people who use and manage and utilize Otsus funds.
He said that if BPK found misuse of Special Autonomy funds or other APBD funds, a firm attitude was needed from law enforcement officials, both the police and the prosecutor’s office, to enforce the law. Filep emphasized that at the end of the Otsus period, a total audit of the Otsus funds must be carried out not only as a unilateral proof by the government, but the BPK or other legal institutions also carry out reverse verification by going to the field and proving the truths of the allocation of Otsus funds.
According to Filep, this is very useful so that both organizations, both individuals and institutions, are also obliged to be politically and legally accountable so that the assumptions that the special autonomy funds are not useful and do not work have a basis that local governments can do as an extension of the central government as a constitutional instrument in our constitution.
