By: Robert Hammar (Papuan Student in Makassar City)
Special Autonomy for the Papua Province is a special authority recognized and given to the Papua Province to regulate and manage the interests of the local community according to its own initiative based on the aspirations and basic rights of the Papuan people.
The authorization of special autonomy is carried out so that the administration of governance and the implementation of development in Papua Province can fulfill a sense of justice, accelerate the achievement of people’s welfare, support the realization of law enforcement, and show respect for human rights in Papua Province, especially indigenous Papuans.
The existence of special autonomy for Papua Province is also useful in encouraging the progress of the Papuan people in the framework of creating equality and balance with other provinces in Indonesia.
So far, the Papuan people have been given the authority in the form of special autonomy which has been in effect since 2001. This was based on the holding of large deliberations and the Second Papua Congress from 1999 to 2000 which demanded Papua to determine its own destiny. At that time Megawati as the President of the Republic of Indonesia had signed Law No. 21 of 2001 on Special Autonomy for Papua.
We need to know that the total funds disbursed by the government for Papua and West Papua during 2002-2020 amounted to Rp. 126.99 trillion. The special autonomy funds received by Papua amounted to IDR 93.05 trillion and West Papua IDR 33.94 trillion.
Of course it is very unfortunate if the special autonomy policy is rejected. Papua formerly only has 12 counties when he returned to parts of the Homeland in the mid 1960s an ago. Since special autonomy came into effect, there are now 40 districts / cities in Papua and 12 districts / cities in West Papua. Seeing this alone, there have been tremendous jumps thanks to the implementation of Otsus .
Meanwhile, the Papuan people are also getting more educated. Not a few Papuan youth are studying in several countries in the world thanks to scholarships from the central government through special autonomy .
The Deputy Chief of the Central Mountains of Keerom Regency , Tiombri Wenda, hopes that the special autonomy policy will continue for the sake of development and progress in the land of Papua.
All elements of society, especially those in Papua, have benefited greatly from the implementation of special autonomy . Meanwhile, the extension of Otsus for Papua is a form of the government’s seriousness in building the Republic of Indonesia and at the same time proves that Papua continues to receive attention as part of the Republic of Indonesia.
Let us support Special Autonomy for Papua Volume 2 in order to bring more progress to Papua. People in Bumi Cendrawasih get proper education thanks to the special autonomy scholarship . The community also enjoys various infrastructures built in Papua, so that mobility is faster and the Papuan people’s business becomes smoother.