Guiding Papua's development

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 08/29/2007 1:49 PM | Opinion

Neles Tebay, Abepura, Papua

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a presidential decree on the acceleration of development in Papua on May 16, 2007, the second presidential decree issued after the endorsement of Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua.

The first decree on Papua was issued in 2003 by then president Megawati Soekarnoputri to speed up the formation of new provinces by splitting Papua into three provinces: Papua, Central Irian Jaya and West Irian Jaya.

The damage done by the controversial decree is still unresolved and it remains to be seen if the latest decree will be as controversial as the first.

While the new decree is aimed at accelerating development in Papua, the method and goals were determined by the government of President Yudhoyono. The main question would be if the decree is an appropriate way to speed up development in Papua.

The President has instructed several ministries and local governments in Papua and West Papua to take all necessary steps according to their position, power and duty to accelerate development in the provinces.

The decree clearly highlights some priorities, such as food security, poverty reduction, education, healthcare, infrastructure and affirmative action programs aimed at empowering indigenous Papuans.

These priorities were decided neither by the Papuans nor in consultation with them, but solely by the central government.

To make the decree work, the President established a Jakarta-based assistance team comprising ministers, which was to be chaired by the coordinating minister for the economy.

The ministers were instructed to play supporting and facilitating roles in accelerating development. Meanwhile, the governors, regents and mayors of the provinces in Papua were excluded from the team.

The presidential decree clearly identifies the job of each institution. However, it seems the main duty and responsibility for the implementation of the presidential decree is with the two governors.

With the support of the special team, they have been instructed to work out a master plan to accelerate development in the Papua and West Papua provinces.

The two governors are tasked with formulating an action plan, to carry out and direct the implementation of the master plan, to coordinate the plan and action of development in each province, to improve the capacity of institutions and local governmental officials, to coordinate the use of funds from the provincial and national budget and to direct the implementation of the presidential decree.

Based on evaluations made by the regents and mayors, each governor is required to produce a progress report on the implementation of the decree and submit it regularly to the President and the head of the assistance team.

The head of the team is also instructed to report -- regularly and whenever required -- team activities to President.

The decree does not stipulate penalties facing the institutions that fail to execute the tasks instructed by the President. The President does not specify when the decree will be executed either.

The two governors, as the representatives of the central government, have no other choice than to obey the decree.

The governmental institutions at the central, provincial, regental and mayoral levels are not the only players involved in the development of Papua, however. There are also some other agents of development.

It is unlikely the acceleration of development in Papua, involving the participation of all stakeholders, will work. The reason is that despite its noble purpose, an instructional method such as the presidential decree does not create room and space for all agents of development to play a significant role.

The acceleration of development intended by the presidential decree would require active participation of all stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations, religious leaders, the Papuan Presidium Council, Papuan Customary Council, the Papuan administration, the Papua People's Council, domestic and multinational private corporations exploiting natural resources in Papua and those Papuans living in the remote and most isolated villages.

Every stakeholder needs to be given the opportunity to participate in development; the indigenous Papuans in particular.

Papuans might even ask: How can the President identify our needs and priorities without consulting us?

If the government is really committed to accelerating development in Papua, then President Yudhoyono should pursue a more dialogical method based on three fundamental principles: peace, democracy and dignity, as proposed by the president himself in December 2005.

Only through dialogue will all stakeholders be able to play their roles in accelerating development in Papua.

The writer is a lecturer at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and Theology in Abepura, Papua.

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