Papuans want Solossa's work continued

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

Papuan public figures have called on their people to uphold the spirit of special autonomy in the resource-rich province to respect the late governor Jacobus Perviddya Solossa who had built and fought for the status during his tenure.

Solossa, a noted politician from the Golkar Party, died late on Monday in what doctors believe was a heart attack. He was 57 years old.

His funeral is scheduled for noon on Wednesday at the Tanah Hitam cemetery in Jayapura, with the ceremony to be presided over by Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Deputy of the newly established Papuan People's Council (MRP), Frans A. Wospakrik, said Solossa had contributed much to the birth of special autonomy in Papua, bringing hope for better life in the underdeveloped province.

"Whoever replaces him must have an equal commitment to Solossa to make the implementation of Papua's special autonomy a success," Wospakrik told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Wospakrik said Solossa had since 2000 persistently pushed central government to apply special autonomy in the province, in which pro-independence movements also exist.

Solossa was appointed governor in 2000 with Constant Karma as his deputy. A year later, Law No.21/2001 on Papua's special autonomy was enacted, requiring the establishment of the 42- representative MRP.

The MRP was recently installed and Solossa's tenure was extended until January, pending the first-ever direct gubernatorial election in the province.

Solossa had sought reelection under Golkar's flag.

The special autonomy, Wospakrik said, was a collective commitment between the central government and Papuans to improve their welfare.

Previous central governments in the Soeharto era had benefited from mining and energy projects in the resource-rich province but locals saw little in the way of development.

Since the advent of special autonomy, revenue splits from mining and energy projects have vastly increased provincial governments' budgets and Solossa's administration has also been criticized by observers for not doing enough to develop infrastructure, health care and education in the province.

Wospakrik said special autonomy was the answer to the lengthy fight of Papuans for independence, which had been waged due to rampant injustices in the area and the central government's failure to treat Papuans humanely.

Papuan Tribal Council leader Tom Beanal said he hoped new Papuan leaders would continue Solossa's legacy -- and bring it to a new level in terms of quality.

"We can't afford to take this autonomy for granted by only taking the funds to implement the (autonomy) status but keep postponing the creation of the support system to make it work, such as the bylaws. The MRP (created in the 2001 law) was only installed two months ago," he said.

So far, Beanal said, the granting of the special autonomy status had little effect on the Papuan people, which led to a protest motion by his council in August to give autonomy back to the central government.

Ben Vincent Djeharu, a House of Representatives member from Papua, said the next Papua governor needed to work as more than Solossa did to bring special autonomy to the people.

"The implementation of the status hasn't been impressive ... so I hope that Solossa's successor will have a stronger will to make it better," the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle legislator said.

To honor the former governor, people in the Puncak Jaya regency changed the name of a clinic in the area, naming it after Solossa.

The clinic was built with Rp 19 billion (US$1.93 million) in special autonomy funds.