Development Acceleration

By Drs. J.E Hosio, M.Si. M..Th

1. The arrival and implementation effect of UU No.21

Result of UU No.21 Year 2001 implementation on Special Autonomy for Papua is still far from expectation. Billions of Rupiah have been granted to improve Papua’s welfare. Unfortunately, the reality is far from ideal.

People in small villages live in very modest houses made of paddy walls, barks and leaves. They live in the dark as these houses have no electricity. They have little access to clean water, education and healthcare.

Most of Papua population still lives isolated in the high mountain and cliff, in remote island, over deep brackish water and dale. Most of these people was not reached and touched by development. The answer to this is lack of road infrastructure to get to these remote areas.

The expansion of province brought hope since its basic philosophy is to shorten government control over people. Ironically, only a few elite officials feel the advantage. This condition leads to significant plummet of trust from people towards central, province and regent governments.

But central government does notice  and give extra attention to millions of Papuans living on the far East Indonesia. The bleak condition of people in Papua encouraged central government to implement new paradigm of building Papua with dignity.

Finally, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued President Instruction Number  Year 2007 on 16 May 200. This step taken by the government is the continuation of  UU No.21 Year 2001 on Special Autonomy for Papua. The idea of this Instruction is  to accelerate development in Papua.

This is evident from President’s instruction to eleven related Ministers, Papua and West Papua Governors and all Mayors in the two provinces to take the necessary actions based on each function and authority to accelerate development.

2. Development Priority for Transport Infrastructures

Compare to other areas in Indonesia, Papua’s geographic landscape is a very tough terrain. Many indigenous Papuans live on high mountains, in isolated island and deep valleys. Most has not experienced development. The only way to open this isolation is to build and manage good ground, air and water transportations.

To that end, President Instruction No.5/2007 elected both Papua and West Papua governors as accountable for their own territory on sustainable development. They are expected to focus on five areas. One, food supply security and poverty reduction. Two, education quality improvement. Three, healthcare quality improvement. Four, basic infrastructure improvement in remote areas to improve accessibility. Five, special attention on quality improvement of indigenous Papuans.  

Source : Papua Barat dalam Realitas Politik NKRI by Drs. Jusach Eddy Hosio, M.Si. (free translation)