By : Manuel Bonay )*
The Papua Special Autonomy Fund (Otsus) is an allocation of funds from the central government for Papua which has many benefits for the community. Special Autonomy Funds can be used for infrastructure development such as roads, bridges and other means of transportation. This helps improve connectivity between regions in Papua, which in turn increases the population’s accessibility to services and economic opportunities. Special Autonomy for Papua is a step taken to continue to advance Papua.
The central government’s support for the progress and welfare of the Papuan people will continue until the community truly feels the benefits and impacts in all sectors. Establishing accessibility to all public services in every region in Papua is a must, so that with the special autonomy funds the rights of the people who have not been well served so far, with the special autonomy funds services can be optimized.
Apart from that, part of the Special Autonomy funds are allocated to the health and education sectors. This allows increased access to quality health and education services for the Papuan people, who often face basic service accessibility challenges. Then the Special Autonomy funds can be used to support economic programs aimed at improving the welfare of local communities. Examples include skills training programs, small business capital assistance, and development of other local economic sectors.
The granting of special autonomy to Papua was carried out at the right momentum, namely during the reform order and when there were demands from the Papuan people to return the name of Irian Jaya Province to Papua. At that time, the government was determined to resolve various major problems of the Indonesian people in organizing a better national and state life, for example recognition of the existence of traditional rights, respect for human rights (HAM) and resolution of past human rights violations.
This is in line with the objectives of the Papua Special Autonomy policy, namely to give the provinces in Papua the broadest authority to carry out special government and management of natural resources (SDA) and their use for the welfare of the Papuan people. The Special Autonomy policy also places indigenous Papuans (OAP) as the main subjects as well as objects in implementing development in Papua.
President Joko Widodo said that the Papua Special Autonomy fund was an effort to create community prosperity and equitable development. Apart from that, with the existence of Special Autonomy funds, it is hoped that it will facilitate the reach of services in the vast land of Papua. Apart from that, the policy of regional expansion in Papua is an aspiration that comes from the Papuan people themselves. This aspiration has existed for several years and comes from various community groups in various regions.
In the Papua Special Autonomy Law and the Papua Authority PP, provincial authority includes authority in all areas of government, except absolute government authority and government authority regarding development planning policies, balancing funds, state administration systems, state economic institutions, authority to develop human resources, utilization of natural resources. as well as strategic high technology, conservation and national standardization. The special authority granted covers the fields of education and culture, health, social, economic, population and employment, as well as sustainable development and the environment. Details of special authority for provincial and district/city governments in Papua are listed in the attachment to the PP on Papuan Authority.
Meanwhile, Vice President (Wapres) KH Ma’ruf Amin, said the government continues to strive to accelerate the development of Special Autonomy for Papua in six provinces. With ongoing program planning and evaluation, the Special Autonomy funds are expected to provide real benefits for the Papuan people. His party also instructed ministers to answer a number of problems encountered in the Papua region. These include the management of the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) who work in provinces and districts along with salary budgeting.
Apart from that, the broad authority over government administration in Papua through the Special Autonomy policy really opens up opportunities for OAP micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to be able to develop and advance to become reliable entrepreneurs. The government’s support for OAP business actors has also encouraged the preparation of a special government master plan in the field of community economic empowerment in order to improve community welfare.
Head of the Southwest Papua Forestry and Land Environment Service (DLHKP), Julian Kelly Kambu, said that Special Autonomy 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. There were many considerations behind the birth of the Special Autonomy Law in 2001, and these can be seen in the weighing section. There are approximately 7 things that were taken into consideration for the birth of the Special Autonomy Law, which were the fruit of ideas that were then formulated and born from Papuan children which were then offered as solutions to overcome problems in Papua.
Julian Kelly also said that the government is committed to implementing environmentally sound and sustainable development in accordance with the mandate of the Special Autonomy Law and must be implemented and monitored together.
Furthermore, through Special Autonomy, efforts can be made to promote and preserve the culture and identity of the Papuan people. This can be done through supporting traditional arts and culture, as well as including education about Papuan history and culture in the education curriculum. So, through effective implementation of the Papua Special Autonomy policy and good management of available funds, it is hoped that the standard of living of the Papuan people will increase significantly. However, this effort must be sustainable and pay attention to the needs and aspirations of the Papuan people holistically.
)* The author is a student from Papua living in Yogyakarta
