Dean D. | Papuan Student
Member of Commission I of the DPR, TB Hasanuddin, suspects that there are indications of corruption in the Papua Special Autonomy Fund. He assessed that the funds were not felt by the public because they stopped at the top level.
“There are many allegations of corruption in Otsus. This means that the Special Autonomy money does not flow to the bottom or to the people, but is stuck at the top to middle levels.”
He explained that the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budgets (APBD) of Papua and West Papua were in the top 10 with the highest budgets in Indonesia. Of the budgeted amount, more than 50 percent is used as special autonomy funds.
Special Autonomy in Papua Province APBD is 63.79 percent and West Papua is 52.68 percent. However, the amount of the APBD is not directly proportional to the achievement of growth and development in Papua. He said the rate of development growth in Papua remained low.
As is known, the Human Development Index (HDI) in Papua is still ranked at the bottom nationally. Papua Province HDI 60.44 and West Papua HDI 65.09.
Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD revealed that the reason for the issuance of the Special Autonomy Law was to strengthen the integrity of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia.
“This law was formed to strengthen the bonds of unity and advance the Papua Province as a legitimate part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, both based on our constitution and legal system as well as international law.”
However, a number of parties do not agree with Otsus, especially the Papuans. The Papuan People’s Council (MRP) sued the Papua Special Autonomy Law when the new regulation was not even two months old. At least, there are 8 articles of the law that they sued to the Constitutional Court.
On the other hand, the amount of Special Autonomy funds has also been in the spotlight, many of which have warned that the funds will not be corrupted. Deputy V of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Jaleswari Pramodhawardani reminded that there should be no fraud, corruption, or illegal levies in the distribution of funds.
We must ensure that this policy has an impact on Papua and West Papua. There is not only physical development, but also human development.
One of the keys to the successful management of Otsus funds is transparency. KPPOD’s policy analyst, Ditha Mangiri said that the effective and transparent management of the special autonomy fund would certainly have a good impact on the Papuan economy. Based on the results of the examination by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) in 2008-2019, the basic problems in managing the special autonomy fund include regulatory, institutional and human resources aspects. Of the 1,500 recommendations from the BPK examination, 257 or 35 percent of the recommendations have not been followed up.
The results of the examination have not yet been followed up, indicating that there are still many problems that illustrate that the special autonomy goal has not been achieved. The provision of special autonomy funds in the form of regional transfers has also not been managed adequately and still creates deviations or risks of misuse of funds that can affect the effectiveness of achieving the objectives of special autonomy.
