T

he government does not intend to intensify security precautions in Papua following the recent fatal incidents allegedly linked to separatist movements in the region.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said the government would stick to its socioeconomic approach, emphasizing the importance of improving the welfare of citizens of the region in efforts to ease conflicts.

He said that the recent charge of treason against six Papuans following a local congress that declared Papuan independence did not indicate an emerging state in the region.

“Law enforcement measures against those charged with treason does not mean that the government is beginning to address Papuan problems in more militaristic ways. We believe that intensifying security approaches will not solve [the problems],” Julian told The Jakarta Post.

The National Police broke up the third Papuan Peoples’ Congress in Abepura, Papua, on Wednesday after participants reportedly raised the prohibited Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence, and issued a declaration of independence.

About 300 of the 5,000 who attended the congress were arrested. At least three bodies were found near the area where the congress was held.

During the same time, three people were shot dead and another three were wounded in Timika.

President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono said he would not tolerate any form of treason, leading to the treason charges against the six suspects who had allegedly orchestrated the congress.

Police and the Indonesian Army have been hunting the group allegedly responsible for the Timika shooting.

The government has denied security forces were involved in the killings.

Julian blamed local administrations for failing to manage the annual special autonomy funds disbursed from Jakarta to the regions.

“The central government has disbursed trillions of special autonomy funds to the Papua and West Papua provinces. However, it is the local administrations that determines how to spend the budget in development programs. How is it that Papuans are still far from public facilities despite the funding?” he asked.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences political expert Ikrar Nusa Bhakti said the provincial administrations of Papua and West Papua had failed to translate the Special Autonomy approach into improved welfare for the Papuan people.

“Incompetence has made local administrations fail to create programs that are more sustainable. Funding has apparently been misused,” Ikrar said.

Papua was granted Special Autonomy in 2001 in response to rising demands from Papuans to separate from Indonesia. The Special Autonomy funds are aimed at speeding up development in the restive provinces.

The central government has disbursed Rp 28 trillion (US$3.16 billion) in Special Autonomy funds to the two provinces since 2002.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) revealed that one of its findings concluded that Rp 4.12 trillion of Special Autonomy funds had been misused and embezzled.

Ikrar, however, said that the central government must also take responsibility for unresolved issues in Papua.

The delayed establishment of the Unit for the Acceleration of Development in Papua and West Papua (UP4B), which was intended to bridge Papua and Jakarta, was among the reasons behind the questions over Jakarta’s seriousness in making a better Papua, Ikrar said.

Poengky Indarti, director of human rights NGO Imparsial, said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had failed to follow through on his own pledge to address Papua “with heart”.

“We have seen that militaristic methods continue to be used,” she said.