Reki L. | Papuan Observer
The revision of the Papua Special Autonomy Law (UU Otsus Papua) is very important to encourage the proper management of Otsus funds. With the proper management of Otsus funds, it is hoped that the welfare of Papuans will also increase.
Director General of Regional Autonomy of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Dirjen Otda Kemendagri), Akmal Malik said that with the amendment to Law Number 2 of 2021 concerning Special Autonomy for Papua, it is hoped that policy budget management is right on target. The revision of the Papua Special Autonomy Law will have a positive impact on the lives of the Papuan people in the future.
Akmal added that the revised Special Autonomy Law will clarify how the Otsus budget will be managed in the future. The management of this special autonomy fund must be ensured that it really targets people in villages and districts in Papua.
“Transparent budget management can make fund management more targeted, that is, truly accepted and enjoyed by indigenous Papuans”
Akmal said that each clause contained in the revision of the Special Autonomy Law was clearly formulated. In the amendment to the Special Autonomy Law, the procedures for managing budget allocations are explained. That way, every budget value disbursed by the government for Papua is really targeted directly at the community.
This will bring significant changes to various aspects of life in Papua in the future. This Special Autonomy Fund must be used for the benefit of indigenous Papuans. Therefore, we make the right governance rules, so that they are right on target.
According to him, proper governance in the management of Otsus funds is very important. This is because the allocation of special autonomy funds disbursed by the government for Papua is very large. It is noted that in the last 20 years, the Special Autonomy budget that has been provided by the government for Papua has reached 146.39 trillion rupiah.
The government itself has consistently provided Otsus funds to two provinces, namely Papua and West Papua. In the period 2002 to 2007, the government only provided Special Autonomy funds to the Papua Province in the annual range of 1.38 trillion rupiah to 4.30 trillion rupiah.
Meanwhile, he said, starting from 2008, the government provided Special Autonomy funds to West Papua Province. And during the period from 2008 to 2021, West Papua Province received Special Autonomy funds in the range of R0.68 trillion rupiah to 4.11 trillion rupiah.
For Papua Province from 2008 to 2021, the government will provide special autonomy funds in the range of 3.92 trillion rupiah to 7.91 trillion rupiah. Therefore, it is very important to improve the mechanism for distributing Otsus funds. Because this is to realize the transparency and accountability of the implementation process
Akmal said that in formulating the revision of the Special Autonomy Law for Papua, the government had conducted a series of evaluation studies. This evaluation study involved various stakeholders.
This evaluation study of Papua Special Autonomy has been started from 2008, 2012, 2013, and 2018. In a comprehensive manner, various stakeholders have evaluated the use of these funds.
The results of the evaluation, continued Akmal, were then used by the government and the DPR in formulating the revision of the Papua Special Autonomy Law. He also hopes that, in the future, the use of Papua Special Autonomy funds can be provided in a targeted manner. This means that indigenous Papuans really enjoy the special autonomy funds.
