House endorses division of Papua province

House endorses division of Papua province

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives (DPR) endorsed on Thursday the
government's controversial move to divide Papua into three
provinces, thus giving more legitimacy to the government in
moving ahead with the plan despite strong opposition from
Papuans.

The House's approval was given after a closed-door meeting
attended by leaders of the nine factions in the House, leaders of
the House defense commission and home affairs commission, and
Papua-born legislators Ruben Gobay, Alex Hasegem and Simon
Patrice Morin.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said that the government's move
was only giving effect to Law No. 45/1999 on the partition of
Papua into three provinces.

He claimed that Law No. 45/1999 did not contravene Law No.
21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua.

"Both laws are valid ... This means that the division of
(Papua) province is acceptable," Akbar said after the meeting.

During the meeting, legislator Effendi Choirie from the
National Awakening Party and independent legislator Astrid S.
Susanto urged the House to oppose the government's plan as it was
opposed by many Papuans and could worsen the separatist problem.

However, other legislators, including legislator Sabam Sirait
from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and former
chairman of the House committee that deliberated Law No. 21/2001,
gave their support.

Sabam, for instance, contended that Papua was four times
bigger than Java island and, therefore, its division into three
provinces was needed to boost development there.

Over the past days, the Papuan legislators have strongly
criticized the government for dividing Papua into three
provinces, but on Thursday the very same legislators expressed
their agreement to the division.

The House's endorsement has given a boost to the government,
with Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno insisting that Papua
had been legally spit into three provinces since the president
signed Law No. 45/1995.

"The split-up was decided before the issuance of the special
autonomy law. It's a fait accompli and the present government is
simply giving effect to the law," he remarked.

The minister, nevertheless, gave assurances that the special
autonomy law would be implemented in all of the three new
provinces and that the revenue from Papua's natural resources
would be fairly distributed among them.

"The public should not worry about their welfare after the
split as the central government will ensure a fair distribution
of revenues," Hari added.

He also disclosed that he would visit Papua later this month
to inaugurate 14 new regencies in the province and discuss the
split with local administrations there.

"It should be underlined that it will be difficult to manage
28 regencies under the umbrella of one province," the minister
said before attending a limited cabinet meeting on Papua.

The House on Thursday also recommended that the government
hold regular consultations with House to discuss the
implementation of the law on special autonomy for Papua.

It also urged the government to issue a decree on the
establishment of the Papua People's Assembly as mandated by the
autonomy law. This assembly would need to be consulted by the
central government on any important decisions regarding Papua.