[Kabar-indonesia] 3 JP Papua Reports: Autonomy Brings Little Progress: Study [+Editorial]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: 2 JP reports: Editorial: New Deal for Papuans;
and Political rivalries shelved as Suebu takes office 

The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Autonomy brings little progress to Papua: Study 

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Papua's "special autonomy" status has not brought significant progress to the 
people because it has failed to address their fundamental needs, a survey 
suggests.

The survey was conducted by National Solidarity for Papua (SNUP) in 
cooperation with Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia. It examined the impact 
of special autonomy, which began in 2002 in an effort to ease separatist 
tensions and grant Papuans greater control over their government and the 
province's resources. 

The 323 respondents were from different backgrounds and locations across six 
regencies. They said their welfare has not improved because the local 
political elite, the bureaucracy and non-governmental organizations are out of touch 
with the common people. 

Seventy-six percent of respondents said autonomy has yet to strengthen basic 
services in the areas of health care, education and the economy. This, they 
said, is closely related to rampant corruption and nepotism among those in 
power. 

SNUP executive director Bonar Tigor Naipospos said a sizable portion of the 
funds granted to Papua to implement autonomy have been spent on things other 
than essential needs. 

"Besides the conflicting interests between local people and their elite 
group, the two resource-rich provinces have spent a lot of money to establish new 
institutions required by the special autonomy law, on the controversy over the 
formation of West Irian Jaya province and on local elections," Naipospos said 
while presenting the survey's results Monday. 

West Irian Jaya was split off as a separate province in 2002, despite 
complaints that the move violated Papua's special autonomy law. 

Naipospos said a majority of Papua's 2.5 million people still lived in 
poverty. 

Forty-six percent of respondents said that the newly-established Papuan 
People's Assembly (MRP) and political parties had not paid serious attention to 
their fundamental problems, and that the increasing number of security personnel 
did not improve their sense of security. Instead, respondents felt their 
freedom of expression had been hampered. 

Seventy-six percent said the administration at all levels in the two 
provinces needed reform, and that NGOs should be encouraged to closely monitor the 
implementation of autonomy in outlying areas. 

Naipospos said the proposed reform of the bureaucracy and the adoption of 
transparency and accountability have to be carried out by the provinces' newly 
elected governors. 

"West Irian Jaya Governor Octavianus Atururi and Papua Governor Barnabas 
Suebu should start their jobs by reforming the bureaucracy while pressing the MRP 
to issue the necessary bylaws to implement autonomy," he said. 

Only two such bylaws have been issued, on health and education, and critics 
have called them unworkable. 

Bram Atururi was sworn in by Home Minister Moh. Ma'ruf on Monday for the 
2006-2011 period. Barnabas Suebu took the oath as Papua governor Tuesday. 

Laode Ida, the deputy chairman of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), 
blames Jakarta for the slow development of autonomy. He said the central 
government still interferes in Papua's internal affairs. 

"Jakarta remains suspicious that the local political elite and bureaucracy 
are sympathetic to the separatist movement," he explained. 

He said that the territory has received more than Rp 6 trillion in autonomy 
funds annually but no significant progress has been made on health, education, 
transportation and the economy, four sectors given high priority by the law. 

He called on the two provinces to review all contracts with national and 
multinational companies to seek greater economic benefits for local development 
programs. 

Observer Mohamad Sobary said there was nothing surprising in the survey 
results. He added it was important for Jakarta and the Papua political elite to 
cooperate to make autonomy effective. 

"The politicians in the two provinces should learn from the church 
institutions how they have won the hearts and minds of the Papuan people in their 
religious mission," he said. 

------------------------------------

The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Editorial

New Deal for Papuans 

After four months of waiting, the people of Papua and West Irian Jaya 
provinces finally saw the leaders they elected back in March take office Monday.

Abraham Octavianus Atururi and Rahimin Katjong entered the history books as 
the first governor and deputy governor of West Irian Jaya. Their inauguration 
Monday should close the protracted debate over the legality of the province, a 
debate which colored the gubernatorial election there. 

Residents of Papua province also saw the swearing in of Barnabas Suebu and 
Alex Hasegem as governor and deputy governor, respectively, after a political 
tug-of-war between Suebu and election loser John Ibo, who is also the speaker of 
the provincial legislature. Suebu's inauguration also marked a reconciliation 
between local political elites, whose dispute caused billions of rupiah worth 
of development projects to ground to a halt, harming the interests of the 
people. 

And there is more good news for Papua. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is 
scheduled to visit the province from Thursday through Sunday, and is expected 
to come bearing gifts. During his trip, Yudhoyono is expected to announce a 
presidential instruction on the acceleration of development in the province. 

The instruction, which the President calls a new deal for Papua, focuses on 
health, vocational education, acceleration of basic infrastructure development, 
food security and affirmative action measures to give more locals the 
opportunity to hold posts within the administration, the police and military forces. 
This new deal is being widely seen as a real attempt by the government to 
resolve the long-standing problems in Papua, following the successful peace 
process in Aceh. 

Wednesday's visit will mark the second time in the past three months 
Yudhoyono has traveled to Papua, which has been plagued by a low-level separatist 
movement for almost four decades. 

With new, democratically elected leaders in place, the people of Papua and 
West Irian Jaya, both of which are blessed with abundant natural resources, can 
now really begin to hope for a better life under their special autonomy 
status. 

Five years since the passage of the law on special autonomy for Papua, a 
status which also is shared by West Irian Jaya, people in the provinces have yet 
to truly benefit from their rich natural resources. According to the latest 
data from the State Ministry for the Development of Disadvantaged Regions, 19 of 
20 regencies across Papua were classified in 2005 as underdeveloped. 

A famine last year that killed more than 50 people in the province's Yahukimo 
regency highlighted the paradox of Papua, which has since 2002 received 
almost Rp 10 trillion in funds from the central government as part of the revenue 
sharing agreement in the special autonomy law. 

Most of the money, however, has been spent on routine expenditures, with a 
small portion allotted for basic human development such as education and health 
care. A lack of experience in budget management and institutional incapacity 
have resulted in Papua wasting much of this money, throwing away the golden 
opportunity offered by special autonomy. 

A series of violent clashes, culminating in the tumultuous rally against gold 
mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia in mid-March, just a few days after the 
gubernatorial election, and the choice of 43 Papuans to seek asylum in Australia 
the previous month, only added insult to injury. 

All of these events mirror the chronic problems that remain unaddressed, if 
not unheeded, and which could haunt Papua and West Irian Jaya's long journey to 
prosperity. Many observers have said the absence of local participation in 
decisions made at the central level concerning the provinces is the main reason 
special autonomy has not worked as originally envisioned. 

Renewing the debate over the legitimacy of the decision to divide Papua, or 
Irian Jaya before 2000, into two provinces is irrelevant, with even those 
originally opposed to the move now accepting the existence of West Irian Jaya 
province. 

Common challenges now bind Papua and West Irian Jaya. The two provinces face 
the daunting challenge of honoring and protecting the sociocultural, economic 
and political rights of locals, who have long been associated with illiteracy, 
isolation, backwardness and poverty. 

The success of native Papuan students in winning prestigious international 
scientific awards in the past few years is a hint of the vast, largely untapped 
potential of Papuans. 

Under special autonomy, billed as a dignified solution to past 
disappointments with Jakarta's policies toward Papua, both Papua and West Irian Jaya will 
have to catch up with developed regions, or perhaps leapfrog them, in the coming 
15 years. By that time the central government will have stopped pouring 
special autonomy funds into the two eastern-most provinces. 

Suebu, who served as governor of Irian Jaya between 1988 and 1993, and 
Atururi, a retired Marine brigadier general, will now be responsible for translating 
the new deal for Papuans into action. 

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The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Political rivalries shelved as Suebu takes office 

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

photo: photo: At Long Last: Home Minister M. Ma'ruf (left) fixes the 
gubernatorial insignia on elected Papuan Governor Barnabas Suebu during his 
inauguration Tuesday in Jayapura. Legal wrangles delayed the ceremony for four months 
after Suebu and running mate Alex Hesegem (right) won the election in March. 
JP/Nethy Dharma Somba 

Barnabas "Bas" Suebu joined hands with a former bitter political rival 
Tuesday as he was installed as governor of Papua after a lengthy dispute about his 
candidacy.

Home Minister M. Ma'ruf officiated at the inauguration of Suebu and his 
running mate Alex Hessegem as deputy governor. Suebu is the first Papuan to hold 
the position twice: He also was governor from 1988 to 1993, when the province 
was known as Irian Jaya, before its division into Papua in the east and West 
Irian Jaya in the west. 

Suebu became the first directly elected Papuan governor last March, but his 
win was immediately marred by protests. Among the accusations against Suebu was 
that he used a fake high school diploma to qualify to run for office. 

Suebu denied the charges, saying they were concocted by his rivals. He did 
not graduate high school because, with an oustanding academic record, he was 
allowed to take university entrance tests early and was accepted at the Law 
School of Cenderawasih University in Jayapura. 

Suebu's installation was held at a special plenary session of the Papuan 
Legislative Council, presided over by speaker John Ibo at Cenderawasih Sport Hall 
in Jayapura. 

Political rivalries were put aside as acting Papuan governor Sodjuangon 
Situmorang, Suebu, Alex Hessegem and Papua Council Speaker John Ibo, who had 
vigorously questioned the results of the election, entered together. 

John held the hands of Suebu and Alex in a powerful sign that the men were 
reconciled. Shortly after the Papuan chapter of the General Elections Commission 
(KPUD Papua) announced Suebu and Alex won the regional election, John Ibo 
immediately questioned the veracity of Suebu's educational credentials. 

The allegations were investigated by the Papua Police and the National Police 
Headquarters, while Suebu's civil suit for defamation has gone before the 
Jayapura District Court. 

John Ibo said all parties now realized they should set aside their dispute 
and focus on improving the people's welfare. 

"Everything is now over after a meeting with the President (Susilo Bambang 
Yudhoyono) at the State Palace on July 21. All Papuan figures present at the 
meeting were of the opinion that the dispute had to end," he said. 

He added that the inauguration showed that there was no longer any question 
that Suebu and Alex were the winners of the election. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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