Special Autonomy Fund to Accelerate Papua’s Infrastructure and Human Resources Development

By: Rebecca Marian)*

Papua is an area that has never been separated from the government’s attention, especially during President Joko Widodo’s tenure as head of state. One form of government attention to Papua is the existence of special autonomy (autonomy) funds that allow young people in Papua to continue their education up to university level.

It should be noted that the government has disbursed special autonomy funds since 2001. To date, a number of successes have been made with many Papuan children being given the opportunity to study abroad such as America and Australia. Of course, it is hoped that the sustainability of the special autonomy fund will touch the interests of the Papuan people even more.

West Papua Regional Secretary, Nataniel Mandacan said, there have been many successes that have been achieved through Otsus, but still need to be followed up during the second Otsus period. He made this statement when reading the Governor’s remarks before opening the 2022 Musrenbang Otsus of West Papua Province at Aston Niu Manokwari.

According to him, there are several things that have been achieved, according to regulations before the 2017-2022 period, West Papua used the Governor’s Regulation as the basis for distributing Otsus funds. However, the 2017-2022 period has produced various Perdasus in accordance with the mandate of the Special Autonomy Law No. 21 of 2021 and the Special Autonomy Law No. 35 of 2008.

The Perdasus produced include Perdasus Number 2 of 2019 concerning Guidelines for Receiving and Distribution of Provincial and Regency/City Autonomy Funds, Perdasus Number 3 of 2019 concerning Oil and Gas DBH, Perdasus Number 10 concerning Conservation/Sustainable Provinces, Perdasus concerning Customary Areas, Perdasus concerning Entrepreneurs OAP.

In addition to Perdasus and Perdasi, in terms of the Education Sector, it has also financed the Affirmation Program Special Education Scholarships at various levels of Universities at home and abroad, including funding for the Faculty of Medicine, UNIPA.

From the health side, it has financed referral treatment and various other health programs, including BPJS, of course with the target of increasing life expectancy, including Covid-19 assistance by refocusing the budget, so that we should be grateful for the decrease in Covid-19 sufferers in West Papua.

In addition, in the economic sector in an effort to increase per capita income, Papuan children have been appointed as police officers through the Noken Police, as well as 1000 Soldiers (TNI). Through the appointment of village cadres through the Special Autonomy Prospect Program. Various programs of strategic activities spread across various related OPDs, have implemented a hand of love program in order to get out of extreme poverty.

Apart from that, in terms of infrastructure development, Otsus has also supported development in various fields, such as the construction of roads and bridges, sanitation and the environment as a conservation province, housing, electricity, telecommunications networks, various connectivity facilities, sea and air.

In macro development indicators, it can be seen that the HDI in 2010 was 59.60 points, now it has increased to 65.26 points in 2021. This shows that human resource development in West Papua continues to increase from a low level to a moderate level.

It is recorded that the government has budgeted 84.7 trillion for the provinces of Papua and West Papua in 2022. The amount of the budget is an increase compared to the previous year which was Rp. 79.7 trillion. The total fund of Rp. 84.7 trillion was divided for West Papua Province of Rp. 27.24 trillion and for Papua of Rp. 57.41 trillion.

Since March 2020, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, has held a meeting with ministers to discuss the special autonomy volume 2. This is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of regulations. People in Papua are also waiting for the new regulation in Otsus volume two, they also hope that with the revision of Otsus, their lives will be better.

Jokowi is known as a very concerned President about paying attention to the fate of Papua. Jokowi has also built Trans Papua roads, bridges and other infrastructure to advance the Earth of Cenderawasih. The commitment to the welfare of Papua is also proven by the sustainability of Papua’s Special Autonomy (Otsus). Where the implementation of special autonomy carried out by the central government is considered an approach to improve welfare, while reducing the gap between Papua and other provinces.

Because, in special autonomy, more authority is given to the regions, as well as respect for the basic rights of indigenous Papuans. The community is directly involved in supervising.

Otsus is a special policy aimed at certain areas for the progress of a region, the hope is that infrastructure can develop and human resources can also compete with other regions, therefore this policy should be supported for the acceleration of development in Papua.

)* The author is a Papuan student living in Jakarta

Special Autonomy Fund to Accelerate Papua’s Infrastructure and Human Resources Development

By: Rebecca Marian)*

Papua is an area that has never been separated from the government’s attention, especially during President Joko Widodo’s tenure as head of state. One form of government attention to Papua is the existence of special autonomy (autonomy) funds that allow young people in Papua to continue their education up to university level.

It should be noted that the government has disbursed special autonomy funds since 2001. To date, a number of successes have been made with many Papuan children being given the opportunity to study abroad such as America and Australia. Of course, it is hoped that the sustainability of the special autonomy fund will touch the interests of the Papuan people even more.

West Papua Regional Secretary, Nataniel Mandacan said, there have been many successes that have been achieved through Otsus, but still need to be followed up during the second Otsus period. He made this statement when reading the Governor’s remarks before opening the 2022 Musrenbang Otsus of West Papua Province at Aston Niu Manokwari.

According to him, there are several things that have been achieved, according to regulations before the 2017-2022 period, West Papua used the Governor’s Regulation as the basis for distributing Otsus funds. However, the 2017-2022 period has produced various Perdasus in accordance with the mandate of the Special Autonomy Law No. 21 of 2021 and the Special Autonomy Law No. 35 of 2008.

The Perdasus produced include Perdasus Number 2 of 2019 concerning Guidelines for Receiving and Distribution of Provincial and Regency/City Autonomy Funds, Perdasus Number 3 of 2019 concerning Oil and Gas DBH, Perdasus Number 10 concerning Conservation/Sustainable Provinces, Perdasus concerning Customary Areas, Perdasus concerning Entrepreneurs OAP.

In addition to Perdasus and Perdasi, in terms of the Education Sector, it has also financed the Affirmation Program Special Education Scholarships at various levels of Universities at home and abroad, including funding for the Faculty of Medicine, UNIPA.

From the health side, it has financed referral treatment and various other health programs, including BPJS, of course with the target of increasing life expectancy, including Covid-19 assistance by refocusing the budget, so that we should be grateful for the decrease in Covid-19 sufferers in West Papua.

In addition, in the economic sector in an effort to increase per capita income, Papuan children have been appointed as police officers through the Noken Police, as well as 1000 Soldiers (TNI). Through the appointment of village cadres through the Special Autonomy Prospect Program. Various programs of strategic activities spread across various related OPDs, have implemented a hand of love program in order to get out of extreme poverty.

Apart from that, in terms of infrastructure development, Otsus has also supported development in various fields, such as the construction of roads and bridges, sanitation and the environment as a conservation province, housing, electricity, telecommunications networks, various connectivity facilities, sea and air.

In macro development indicators, it can be seen that the HDI in 2010 was 59.60 points, now it has increased to 65.26 points in 2021. This shows that human resource development in West Papua continues to increase from a low level to a moderate level.

It is recorded that the government has budgeted 84.7 trillion for the provinces of Papua and West Papua in 2022. The amount of the budget is an increase compared to the previous year which was Rp. 79.7 trillion. The total fund of Rp. 84.7 trillion was divided for West Papua Province of Rp. 27.24 trillion and for Papua of Rp. 57.41 trillion.

Since March 2020, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, has held a meeting with ministers to discuss the special autonomy volume 2. This is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of regulations. People in Papua are also waiting for the new regulation in Otsus volume two, they also hope that with the revision of Otsus, their lives will be better.

Jokowi is known as a President who is very concerned about paying attention to the fate of Papua. Jokowi has also built Trans Papua roads, bridges and other infrastructure to advance the Earth of Cenderawasih. The commitment to the welfare of Papua is also proven by the sustainability of Papua’s Special Autonomy (Otsus). Where the implementation of special autonomy carried out by the central government is considered an approach to improve welfare, while reducing the gap between Papua and other provinces.

Because, in special autonomy, more authority is given to the regions, as well as respect for the basic rights of indigenous Papuans. The community is directly involved in supervising.

Otsus is a special policy aimed at certain areas for the progress of a region, the hope is that infrastructure can develop and human resources can also compete with other regions, therefore this policy should be supported for the acceleration of development in Papua.

)* The author is a Papuan student living in Jakarta