Special autonomy for Papua hailed

Special autonomy for Papua hailed

R.K. Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

As many as 50 Irianese religious leaders and local figures
expressed on Wednesday support for the government's plan to give
special autonomy to the resource-rich province of Irian Jaya.

At a meeting with Irian Jaya Governor Jaap Salosa at the Stata
Building in Jayapura on Wednesday, the religious leaders and
local figures also promised to disseminate information about the
special autonomy law to be officially signed by President
Megawati Soekarnoputri during her planned visit to the province
on Dec. 22.

According to Salosa, Megawati's visit will be on schedule.
"The signing of the special autonomy law will be at the
provincial legislative building, while a Christmas celebration
will be held at the Matahari Terbit (Rising Sun) building," the
governor said.

Protestant Rev. John M. Gobay of the Kemah Injil (Bible Camp)
Church, Rev. Ayomi of the Pentecostal Church, Father Jack Mote of
the Argapura Catholic parish and Husein Zubeir of the Indonesian
Ulemas Council were among the religious leaders.

Rev. Sofyan Nyoman was also at hand representing intellectuals
at the meeting, the first of its kind, while Gaspar Sibi, head of
the Kayu Pulau tribe, represented the indigenous people.

Rev. Sofyan Nyoman said that special autonomy for Papua (Irian
Jaya) was supported because the churches, which were involved in
the drafting of the law, would not oppose it.

The special autonomy law, which was deliberated by the House
of Representatives (DPR) on Oct. 22, 2001, remains controversial
to many, including students and members of the Papuan Presidium
Council (PDP), who preferred dialog to special autonomy to solve
Irian Jaya problems.

At least 500 students from Jayapura's state Cenddrawasih
University took to the streets on Tuesday to reject the special
autonomy law and demanded an independence referendum instead.

Father Jack Mote told The Jakarta Post after the meeting that
such an emotional demonstration by students could not be
considered to represent all the people of Irian Jaya.

"All people should support the government's efforts to create
peace and uphold human rights," Father Jack said.

Rev. John M. Gobay said that the demand for special autonomy
and independence were understandable. "Some think that special
autonomy is a kind of oppression. Therefore they seek
independence. It should be explained (to the people of Papua) how
the special autonomy law came about. Did it come from the central
government or from the people of Papua? Then will we accept it?
It's the religious leaders and local figures who should explain
all this to the people," said Gobay.

Father Theo van den Broek, a Dutch-born man who is now an
Indonesian citizen, said that support and opposition for special
autonomy among the (Papuan) people were understandable because
information about the government's plan had been inadequate.

He said that the bill on special autonomy for Papua had yet to
accommodate the interests of all Papuan people, especially those
who wanted Irian Jaya to secede from the unitary state of
Indonesia.

"The result is that special autonomy is rejected by those who
want a referendum and demand that all rights abuses be properly
settled, as well as those who are dissatisfied with the
government's poor attention to development in the province," he
said.

"However, in a way special autonomy will answer the demands of
some of the Papuans who want big changes and better lives," he
said.