Broken promise in Papua

Broken promise in Papua

From Media Indonesia

The Indonesian government is desperately trying to ensure that
Papua remains within the Unitary State of the Republic of
Indonesia, but the special autonomy granted to the province can
only be successfully implemented if Papuans are united.

It is true that this special autonomy has yet to be
implemented, because Indonesia itself is still in a rather messy
state. The present situation is not yet a conducive environment
fully implement Papuan autonomy.

Recently, a declaration establishing the Central Irian Jaya
province was announced. This declaration has led to conflicts
between indigenous Papuans and migrants from other islands.
Actually, the House of Representatives, under the Habibie
administration, ratified Law No. 45/1999 on the establishment of
West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya provinces. (the successive
administration ratified the autonomy law which legally overrides
Law 45.)

The division of a certain region into more provinces is part
of the delegation of political authority from the central
government to the regions. Unfortunately, not all Papuans see the
significance of this matter. One may suspect that conflicts that
have broken out because of this matter must be the result of
propaganda of the secessionist Free Papua Movement in their
attempt to discredit the legitimate government of the Republic of
Indonesia.

The establishment of Central Irian Jaya province means a
separate budget for this particular region. It means that this
region can tap its own natural resources to build necessary
infrastructure and facilities. It no longer has to wait for the
budget to come from Papua province, which will be one-third of
its original size.

IFUL SAMEY
Bogor, West Java