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New provinces in Papua may lead to widening social gap: Experts
The Papuan People's Assembly has reportedly issued a maklumat (announcement) rejecting the creation of new provinces, saying "the development would only benefit the migrants instead of the native Papuans" as had always been the case.
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (right), accompanied by XVII/Cendrawasih Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Herman Asaribab (left), observes ruins of a building set on fire during the Sept.23 riot in his visit to Wamena on Oct. 28. (Antara/Anyong)
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n a bid to speed up development in Papua, the government has come up with an idea to create more provinces on the vast island. However, experts have warned such policy could lead to social conflict if it failed to improve the welfare of native Papuans.
Adriana Elisabeth of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and Vidhyandika Djati Perkasa of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said the creation of new provinces could trigger social conflicts if it failed to engage native Papuans in economic and development activities in the easternmost region.
Any failures could only widen the financial gap between native and non-native Papuans, who had long "dominated" Papua's economy as a result of the government's transmigration program that initially aimed to equalize economic and human resource gaps between different areas in the country.
It would also result in further segregation in Papua, the experts warned.
Adriana said on Thursday the establishment of two more provinces in Papua should not only focus on the development of public infrastructure and such.
Rather, the creation of new provinces should focus on addressing numerous chronic problems in Papua, including financial gaps between locals and migrants, people's limited access to public services and unaddressed human rights violations against native Papuans allegedly committed by security forces.
Adriana argued that Papua's economy, particularly in big cities such as Jayapura, Merauke and Sorong, had long been dominated by "migrants who have a typical strong fighting spirit that apparently makes them more successful than locals". The government, therefore, should find a way to integrate the marginalized native Papuans into the region's economic circle to avoid potential envy and social conflicts.
