Govt told to focus on Papua problems

Govt told to focus on Papua problems

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

After the Helsinki peace deal that brought peace to Aceh, the
central government has been urged to focus more on resolving the
problems in Papua.

"There is mounting resentment against the central government
as shown by the big protests two weeks ago. The government has to
respond to it seriously otherwise Papua will remain a pebble in
the shoe of the Indonesian government in international forums,"
said Papuan leader Fadel Al Hamid, the secretary of the Papua
Tribal Council.

The protests that Fadel was referring to took place on Aug. 12
and were participated in by some 10,000 people in Jayapura and
other Papuan cities. During the rallies, the protesters condemned
the central government for its failure to implement the special
autonomy scheme.

The massive expression of disappointment came just weeks
after some members of the U.S. Congress proposed a bill
questioning the validity of the process that led 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. The protests were seen as an avenue through which
more pressure cut be put on the central government to pay
attention to the plight of indigenous Papuans.

According to the protesters, special autonomy has failed as
there has been no improvement in the economic circumstances of
native Papuans.

The economy in Papua is largely controlled by migrants.
Traditional markets and strategic outlets, especially those along
the streets are controlled by the newcomers who mostly hail from
Java and South Sulawesi province, while Papuan traders have less
strategic outlets, thus causing them to earn less money. The
Papuans are also less experienced at trading and local activists
argue that the government has to come up with strategies to
narrow the gap.

Providing protection for indigenous Papuans in the economic
realm is mandated by the Special Autonomy Law, said Fadel.

Edi Togotlit, the chairman of the Keerom Church Association,
echoed Fadel's comments. Despite the implementation of the
Special Autonomy Law, which gives greater powers to the Papuan
government to manage its own affairs, most Papuans still live in
abject poverty.

"Strangely, shortly after the implementation of the Special
Autonomy Law, many Papuan bureaucrats suddenly became rich. But
the people are still mired in poverty," said Edi.

Edi argued that the special autonomy scheme contained major
flaws and had to be improved.

The director of the Civil Society Strengthening (ICS)
organization, Budi Setyanto, said that the government had not
been consistent in implementing special autonomy. After the
Special Autonomy Law took effect in 2001, President Megawati
Soekarnoputri issued Presidential Decree No. 1/2003 to facilitate
the establishment of the new West Irian Jaya province, thus
partitioning Papua province.

The issuance of this presidential decree was followed by the
actual establishment of West Irian Jaya, which fueled resentment
among Papuans as it blatantly violated the Special Autonomy Law,
which states that the establishment of a new province must be
approved by the Papuan People's Council, while, in fact, West
Irian Jaya was established before the MRP had even been set up.

If the central government wants Papua to remain part of
Indonesia, it will have to implement the special autonomy scheme
in a consistent manner, said Budi.

There have been concerns in the Indonesian government that
Papua could ultimately secede from Indonesia. These concerns
emanate from fact that the Papuan separatist movement actively
campaigns for Papuan independence abroad. The armed wings of the
Papuan separatist movement have also been waging a low intensity
insurgency since Indonesia took control of the mountainous,
jungle-clad territory from the Dutch in 1963. The annexation of
Papua took place a year after independence-minded Papuans
announced independence on Dec. 1, 1962.

However, unlike the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the separatist
movement is not yet a significant threat to the Indonesian
military as it is split into many uncoordinated factions.