Denzeil P. | Papuan Student
Vice President Ma’ruf Amin accepted the aspirations of representatives of Papuan leaders regarding the establishment of a special institution for the implementation of special autonomy (otsus) and welfare development in the Papua region.
This aspiration was conveyed by the Deputy Governor of West Papua Mohamad Lakotani along with the General Chair of the Papua Province MUI Saeful Islam Al Payage and the General Chair of the West Papua Province MUI A. Nausrau, on September 20, 2021.
Masduki revealed, during the meeting, representatives of Papuan leaders hoped that President Joko Widodo and Vice President Ma’ruf Amin could appoint the right person to lead the special institution. Provisions for the establishment of this special institution are contained in Law Number 2 of 2021 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for Papua.
Then, continued Masduki, the aspiration has been recorded by the Vice President as a concept that still needs to be synchronized with government regulations and so on.
Furthermore, Masduki hopes that after the special institution has been formed, then what was initiated by the Vice President regarding cultural approaches to the Papuan problem can be realized soon.
The provisions in Law 2/2021 state that the formation of a special agency is in the context of synchronization, harmonization, evaluation and coordination of the implementation of special autonomy and development in the Papua region. This special agency is directly responsible to the President.
The special agency is chaired by the Vice President and includes the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister of National Development Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Agency (PPN/Bappenas) and the Minister of Finance as members. In addition, in the special agency there is also one representative from each province in Papua as a member.
In addition, the Deputy Governor of West Papua hopes that the figures who will be assigned to the special institution are figures who can prioritize themselves in issues in Papua.
“First, the person can penetrate down and also penetrate the friend and foe is the term. Second, the person really prioritizes his focus on this work.”
As for dialogue, Ma’ruf said that he wanted to attract a number of figures ranging from traditional leaders to education leaders. Ma’ruf believes that a dialogue or friendship approach is important so that the central government in Jakarta does not seem to focus on infrastructure development and security operations there.
