Nikolaus R. | Papuan Observer
Head of Community Harmony Tabi Pdt. Albert Yoku, said that special autonomy is a great blessing from God through the central government to help indigenous Papuans through a program called partiality.
According to pdt. Albert Yoku, what is being done by the central government is very focused and measured to help indigenous Papuans by referring to Law number 21 regarding the special autonomy of Papua.
He continued, if the special autonomy fund is managed properly, the Papuan people will be more prosperous, so that in the future, the special autonomy fund must be better managed.
In principle, he fully supports the special autonomy of Papua to be continued, but there is a need for a re-assessment of the problems so far so that in the future, autonomy will touch the community more.
He added that in relation to the expansion of the province in Papua, as Tabi community leaders and also religious leaders, strongly approved the central government’s program for the expansion of the Papua province.
Because by doing so, development is more focused directly on the regions and managed directly by native Papuans who are mandated by the state to occupy structural positions in their respective regional governments.
The same thing was conveyed by the Executive Director of the Indonesia Political Review (IPR), Ujang Komaruddin. Increasing the number of provinces in Papua will bring people closer to access to the regional government so that the aspirations of the people are also easier to respond to.
“The expansion should have become a momentum for the welfare of the people, a momentum for the special autonomy funds from the central government not to be corrupted, so that development can proceed”
In addition, the addition of provinces could also disrupt the strength of the Papuan separatist group (KSP). According to Ujug, the increasing number of provinces made the concentration of the rioters increase so that their strength would also decrease.
Even so, when adding provinces, it is necessary to pay attention to several things such as expansion design, thorough academic studies, and accommodating many factors that are needed by the local community.
Similar support was also conveyed by Papuan community leaders, John Gluba Gebze, who emphasized that the Papua Special Autonomy (Otsus) policy was a form of goodwill for progress and prosperity. So, there must be a commitment to make it concrete.
In addition, this Papuan community leader also reiterated that the Papua Special Autonomy policy would not end. Given that the government has also not made amendments to this policy.
These various statements show the belief of the Papuan people in the benefits of special autonomy for Papua, so it is appropriate for us to oversee the evaluation of Otsus so that it can provide wider benefits for the community.
