Big Papua protest criticized
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
A senior lecturer from a university in Papua, Bambang Sugiono, criticized a massive protest earlier on Friday that rejected the Special Autonomy Law for Papua province.
"There is nothing wrong with the Special Autonomy Law because all the rights of Papuans, which have been neglected for a long time, have been incorporated under the law. The fault is with the law's implementation," Bambang, a lecturer at Cenderawasih University in Jayapura, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Instead of demanding that the law be scrapped, the protesters should have demanded that the implementation be corrected, said Bambang. "It is like a car that has just been released from a factory. When you find a problem with the car, you'd better fix it rather than throwing away the car," said Bambang, a member of the team that drafted the Special Autonomy Law.
Bambang was commenting on a protest participated by at least 10,000 Papuans on Friday that demanded the government review the Special Autonomy Law that was enacted in 2001. In the biggest protest to date, the protesters also demanded that the government hold national and international dialogs to solve Papuan problems.
They said that the Special Autonomy Law, which provided greater power for the local government to manage its own affairs, had failed to improve the life of Papuans and therefore, it had to be rejected.
Although he criticized the protest, Bambang said that it was useful feedback for the central government. "The central government has received the necessary input from the protest to take strategic measures to improve the implementation of the autonomy law, which in turn would improve the life of Papuans."
Bambang also explained that the protest took place because the central government had failed to properly inform the public about the Special Autonomy Law. Similar comments were also shared by Rev. Edi Togotli, the chairman of Keerom Regental Churches. "Papuans learn from the media that the Special Autonomy Law has been adopted and trillions of rupiah have been given to Papua, but they remain poor. Where has the money gone?" said Edi.
Edi confirmed a statement by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that the central government would establish a small team to evaluate the implementation of autonomy in the province.
The team would trace where the fund has gone, whether it has really been used to spur development in Papua or instead has gone into the coffers of local government officials, he said.
"The team should be honest. Instead of seeking data from the local government officials, they should seek information from Papuans to determine whether the autonomy has been able to improve their lives," said Edi.
The protest, which came just weeks after U.S. Congress members proposed a bill questioning Papua's incorporation into Indonesia, did not explicitly demanded for an independent Papua. However, the protest cannot be taken lightly as it can be the seed for further efforts to achieve an independent Papua.
The struggle has been given a boost after the U.S. bill questioned the validity of the process leading to the 1969 Act of Free Choice in Papua, when a group of some 1,000 selected Papuan leaders voted unanimously to become part of the Republic of Indonesia.