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Govt 'missing' opportunity to review Papua’s special autonomy
With special autonomy funding for Papua and West Papua to expire this year, the government has called for a legal revision to allow money to keep flowing into the region.
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Students of junior high school YPK in Sumuri in Bintuni Bay regency of West Papua listen to their teacher during a class on Nov. 26, 2014. The provinces of Papua and West Papua have been granted special autonomy to close the development gap between them and the rest of Indonesia. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
With special autonomy funding for Papua approaching its expiration date this year, the government has called for a limited legal revision to allow money to keep flowing and to begin new development projects in the region.
Critics, however, believe the government is missing a grand opportunity to review the effectiveness of Papua’s special autonomy status after two troubled decades.
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD announced on Tuesday that the government had proposed revising two articles of the 2001 law granting Papua special autonomy – Article 34 on special autonomy funds and Article 76 on regional expansion.
“The special autonomy status was implemented in 2001, and it does not need some kind of extension. What needs to be extended is the funding – the special autonomy funds,” he said at an online workshop with the Supreme Audit Agency, according to a press statement.
The law stipulates that special autonomy funds for Papua expire in November 2021, which is 20 years after their inception.
Special autonomy was granted to Papua and West Papua in an attempt to close the development gap between them and the rest of Indonesia, and as a means to pursue political compromise and conflict resolution.
