Merauke not yet eligible for a province

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has yet to consider dividing the mineral-rich Irian Jaya into several provinces, and efforts to separate the regency of Merauke will be fruitless, according to Governor Jaap Salosa.

"It is becoming clear the that efforts to develop Merauke as initiated by Merauke Regent John Gluba Gebze should not continue," Salosa was quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday.

"It would be better for the regent to find ways of improving the quality of life of the people of Merauke by improving their welfare," he said.

"It's not yet the time for Merauke to separate from Irian Jaya. Merauke has not yet met standard requirements to become a province. The most crucial problem in Merauke is the shortage of qualified human resources. So if Merauke was allowed to separate from Irian, its leaders would probably be from outside Merauke," Jaap said.

Currently only the regent and the speaker of the regency legislative council are indigenous people, he said. "This fact has been exploited by locals to create unrest. This is very dangerous."

It was the central government which planned to divide Irian Jaya into three new provinces to ensure more equitable development in the huge territory.

In 1999, the Irian Jaya Legislative Assembly rejected the policy, suggesting that the process must begin from the village level and then move up to the district and regency levels.

Jaap said on Saturday that establishing Merauke as a new province could cause new unrest.

"Why should we do something which will lead to new problems?" All leaders and officials in Papua should maintain peace for the sake of provincial development. Regents should be wise and concentrate on the implementation of the special autonomy law for the province. It is only through special autonomy the people of Papua (Irian) will be able to match those of other provinces in all aspects of life," Jaap said.