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