74 percent of Papuans live in isolation and poverty

74 percent of Papuans live in isolation and poverty

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua

Indonesia integrated Papua into its sovereign territory 40 years
ago, but most Papuans are still living in a state of poverty in
remote areas, even though the province is rich in natural
resources.

Although the central government granted the troubled province
special autonomy in 2001 to improve its socio-economic condition
and to appease separatist movements, the Papuans are still
impoverished.

Papua Governor Jaap Salossa said that 74.24 percent of the
more than 2.3-million-strong population are living in remote
areas without access to proper transportation and other public
facilities such as steep slopes, isolated isles and deep gorges.

This demographic condition made the implementation of Law No.
21/2001 on special autonomy ineffective in Papua, Salossa said at
a ceremony on Sunday to celebrate Indonesia's 58th Independence
Day in the provincial capital of Jayapura.

Only a handful of Papuans are able to enjoy the fruits of
development following the granting of special autonomy, he said.

Salossa said the isolation of the majority of the Papuans had
created social rifts within the population, which could lead to
national disintegration.

However, analysts and many Papuans have blamed corruption,
allegedly involving local officials, for the ineffectiveness of
the special autonomy in eradicating poverty.

Salossa said poverty was the cause of the low quality of life
in Papua, with the infant mortality rate standing at 79 per 1,000
births.

At least 49.6 percent of Papuans have not been educated or had
failed to complete elementary school, while only 21.64 percent
had passed elementary school, 10.06 had completed senior high
school and a mere 1.9 percent had graduated from university, he
added.

He said the poor access to social and economic service
centers, due to a lack of roads linking remote and coastal areas
to major cities, had left most Papuans deprived of the facilities
and services of modern life.

This backwardness had also caused the prices of basic
foodstuffs to skyrocket by around 45 percent of Jakarta prices.
Even in remote areas like Puncak Jaya regency, the prices of
basic foods could be three times as much as prices in Jayapura.

Basic commodities are delivered to Puncak Jaya from Jayapura
by small planes, which also raised distribution costs.

Salossa called on all communities in Papua to help make the
special autonomy a success, in order to curb separatist movements
in the troubled province.

He also urged separatists living in jungles to return and join
the unitary state of Indonesia to begin a new life under the
special autonomy in Papua.

The Free Papua Movement (OPM) and the Papua Presidium Council
(DPP), which have been campaigning for several decades for an
independent Papua, are opposed to the special autonomy.