Papuans wait impatiently for autonomy -- or freedom

Papuans wait impatiently for autonomy -- or freedom

By Ridwan M. Sijabat

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): A visit to urban areas in Irian
Jaya, popularly now known as Papua, offers one of many scenes
exposing the much arraigned stark difference among locals and
migrants.

Along the streets in the afternoon, those huddled over small
tables are Papuan women selling areca nuts and local fruits.

Local, often drunk, youngsters engage in bickering at
nightspots, reinforcing the reputation associating them with
"social diseases".

In the city, Papuans mostly occupy the blue collar jobs in
government offices and private companies. Many work as porters
and security guards in airports or conductors on public
transportation. Migrants from South and North Sulawesi, Maluku,
Java and Sumatra dominate the modern and traditional markets and
fill the senior positions in government offices.

Shops, department stores, hotels and entertainment centers in
the city are also dominated by the migrants, including those of
Chinese descent. Lack of capital and skills among locals are
cited as constraints in competing with migrants for better jobs
and progress in business.

Compounded with many other inequalities, this condition has
given weight to the search for a resolution to the issue of
Papuan sovereignty, raised on behalf of more than one million
Papuans. The issue dates back to the return of the province to
the Republic of Indonesia by the Dutch colonial rulers in 1963.

Since the fall of second president Soeharto, Irianese have
become more vocal in drawing attention to their plight. But all
promises from Jakarta in past decades have proved to be empty,
they say.

Calls for independence have increased, culminating in the
Papuan Congress last December. Repeated skirmishes with security
personnel, following incidents of raising the Morning Star flag
of the independence movement, have led to many casualties.

The most severe incident, in Wamena, led to riots late last
year, in which most victims were migrants, although the cause of
the riots remain unclear.

A day before Independence Day on Aug. 17, President Megawati
Soekarnoputri apologized to the peoples of Aceh and Irian Jaya
for past government policies. In response, Papuan separatist
leader Don Al Flassy, who is being tried for treason, said the
apology had to be followed by efforts to solve human rights
violations.

"Now Megawati should look into the root of the problems: why
Papuans held a grand meeting and congress, and then expressed
their wish to separate from Indonesia," Flassy said.

Papuans no longer politely hide how fed up they are -- they
came just short of driving away legislators visiting here in mid-
August.

Not all demanded independence, but implied that the bill on
special autonomy for Papua should be passed immediately.

Passing the bill immediately and living up to promises of its
implementation seems the last chance for the government in facing
separatist demands here.

"What kind of trick are you up to again?" barked one among the
local informal and religious leaders, and government officials
who met with the legislators here.

The legislators were from the House of Representatives'
special committee that deliberated the bill on special autonomy
for the province, which is expected to water down calls for
independence.

The delegates tried to explain their mission to seek more
understanding from the Papuans regarding their aspirations, prior
to the passing of the bill on Irian Jaya's special autonomy.

The participants from Timika, Biak, Merauke and Jayapura have
conveyed their concerns to several governments regarding the
province's backwardness in all fields and their resentment of
Jakarta.

Saul Bomey, a Papuan rebel who was sent to prison for years
under former president Soeharto's regime, asserted that the
province's separation from Indonesia was the best solution to the
Papua issue.

He admitted that his group, along with other 14 resistance
groups, were behind the Dec. 1, 2001, Papuan Congress organized
by the Papuan Presidium Council (PDP), and that these groups
supported the Congress' main recommendation -- Papua's
independence.

Saul said most Papuans had no trust in the Indonesian
government following all the lies, human rights abuses and
exploitation of the province's natural resources.

Jacob Youwey, an influential informal leader in Timika, where
the PT Freeport Indonesia mining firm is based, expressed his
skepticism of the government's planned special autonomy for the
province. He repeated the common grievance among Papuans of
having been deceived by Jakarta too often.

Despite offers of autonomy since 1969, he said, all Papuans
have received was repressive treatment and no opportunity to
progress in business and education, let alone to acquire
important positions in the local administration.

"The Papuans are uneducated and primitive because the
government has repressed them in order to keep them stupid and
living in a stone age culture so that Jakarta can do everything
on its own," Youwey told the House committee.

Papuans are now increasingly stressing their unique ethnicity
and culture as compared to the rest of Indonesia. Youwey said
that, because of this difference, the government should
understand the province's increasing demands for independence.

Rev. Philemon Sawen, an executive member of the Indonesian
Community of Churches (PGI), questioned the special committee's
mission, because the Papuan people's aspirations were already
clearly expressed in the bill. All that needed to be done was
immediately pass it, he said. The bill delivers special autonomy
to the province in managing its own administration and natural
resources.

Quoting the bill, Sawen explained that the Papuans want to
establish their own sociocultural identity, to gain full
authority in all fields, except defense, monetary and foreign
policy, and to gain a major portion of the exploitation of its
resources.

"We want to be lords on our own land, so it's best for the
committee to go back to Jakarta to pass the bill into law before
locals come here to force you to do so," he said.

Orgenes Kambu, who heads the student board of the Papua
Institute of Technology and Science in Abepura, warned the
central government against deceiving the Papuans with the planned
special autonomy, given the absence of trust in Jakarta. They
instead want to separate from Indonesia, he said.

He predicted that most people would choose independence if a
self-determination referendum was conducted. The province would
gradually achieve progress only if it was independent, he said.

Frans Alexander Wospakrik, rector of the Cenderawasih
University in Waina, near Jayapura, observed that the fundamental
problem in the province was the low quality of its people's
education, which had contributed to the disparity between Irian
Jaya and the other provinces.

He said that only 10 percent of 1.3 million Papuan people were
elementary and high school graduates, while only 1 percent were
graduates from academies and universities.

Wospakrik suggested that, under the special autonomy, the
local administration should pay special attention to establishing
quality schools, academies and universities.

A significant part of the budget, he added, should be allotted
to education to enable the hiring of quality teaching staff from
other provinces and overseas, and to enable more and more Papuan
students to undertake post-graduate and Ph.D. programs overseas
to meet the increasing demand for professionals.

Governor J.P. Solossa said the planned special autonomy was
expected to bring real changes to Papuans in an attempt to renew
their trust in Jakarta and in the Indonesian unitary state.

He estimated that, with the special autonomy, Papua would gain
80 percent, or Rp 24 trillion, of the province's annual revenue
of around Rp 30 trillion from the exploration of natural
resources and tax collection. A majority of the funds would be
allocated to the development of education facilities and
infrastructure, including school buildings, markets and highways,
to bridge the provincial capital with all remote areas.

In speeding up the development program, the Governor said he
is embarking on a policy of affirmation similar to Malaysia's
bumiputera (natives) policy, to allow indigenous people to catch
up with other people in business, education and government
offices.

Solossa said he has promoted numerous Papuans from lower
echelons to second and third echelon positions in his office and
other government offices. Besides providing additional education
programs for them, such a policy was needed to help win the
people's support for the government and its development program.

The writer is a journalist with The Jakarta Post.