Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Ribka Haluk Reveals OAP Data as Basis for Welfare Policy and Papua's Special Autonomy Fund Disbursement

Jayapura – Deputy Minister of Home Affairs (Wamendagri) Ribka Haluk stressed that the data collection and census of the Indigenous Papuan People (Orang Asli Papua, OAP) will be a strategic step by the government in formulating welfare policies for the Papuan people. The data will also underpin the governance of Papua’s Special Autonomy (Otsus) funds to be more targeted.

She said this to journalists after the Data OAP Coordination Meeting across Tanah Papua for Strengthening Population Administration in Providing Data OAP to Support the Implementation of the Special Autonomy Law, at Suni Hotel Abepura, Jayapura City, Papua, on Thursday, 21 May 2026.

Ribka explained that the government is currently preparing a comprehensive OAP database that will be used in the OAP welfare census. The data collection is being carried out through cooperation between the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) and the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

‘This OAP database will be used for the welfare census of the Indigenous Papuans. And it will also be used to form policies in health, education, infrastructure, and other sectors targeting the Indigenous Papuans,’ she said.

She added that the data collection process has actually begun in Papua Province as the parent province and is being followed by other provinces in Tanah Papua. According to her, each region has presented progress of the ongoing data collection.

In addition to supporting welfare policy, the OAP data is closely related to the management of Papua’s Otsus funds. Ribka noted that by May 2026, the first phase of Otsus disbursement to 46 areas across six provinces in Tanah Papua had reached 100 percent.

‘We have already presented the position today; as of May 2026, 100 percent for the first quarter phase, 46 areas in the Papua Province have been transferred from the Ministry of Finance,’ she said.

She added that the accelerated disbursement of Otsus funds is supported by an inter-ministerial interoperability system involving Kemendagri, the Ministry of Finance, and other relevant ministries/agencies. The system enables the central government to monitor the budgeting process from planning to disbursement in a more integrated way.

‘I think this is an acceleration that has been achieved. A leap forward, an improvement in governance that is becoming better for the six provinces in Tanah Papua,’ she concluded.