Papuan Indigenous Peoples Institutions Support the Expansion of Papua Province, Here's the Reason

The Papuan Indigenous Peoples Institution (LMA) supports the New Autonomous Region (DOB) of Papua Province. The regions for the new autonomous regions are South Papua Province, Central Papua Province, and Central Highlands Papua Province.

The chairman of LMA Papua, Lenis Kogoya said this in an online discussion themed "Regional Expansion for Indigenous Papuans" held by the Merdeka Barat 9 Forum (FMB9), Monday, (27/6/22).

Lenis said that in fact, the three regions above have long wanted the expansion of the province. The South Papua region, for example, has been waiting for years for the expansion to be realized.

Meanwhile, in the area of Central Papua, there has been a war over the issue of division. In the Central Mountains, said Lenis, the people really wanted the expansion, but it was more for the division of the Regency rather than the Province.

"So far what we have demanded is the Regency, but what appears is the Province. So, because of that, the people feel grateful because if the Province appears, it means that the Regency will also appear," he explained.

Even so, Lenis did not deny the pros and cons in the community regarding the expansion plan itself. This is considered reasonable in the era of democracy as it is now, so it does not need to be handled excessively.

He alluded to the role of the LMA to unravel tensions in the community. "The LMA's job is to bring peace in the midst of these differences," said Lanis.

Lenis continued, LMA itself has a strategic role to oversee all government programs regulated in a number of laws. He also believes that LMA will always be at the forefront to ensure the development process is appropriate and responds to the needs of the community.

"Regulations of the Papuan Provincial Government, we, this existing institution, are also protected by the Special Autonomy Law to oversee central and regional government programs. And in accordance with our ADRT, we must oversee every decision of the government so that it is in accordance with the needs of the community," he said.

Regarding the new autonomous regions, the LMA delivered several statements of position, including: Accepting the Special Autonomy volume 2 and the new autonomous regions for three provinces, the LMA in Papua province supports the division of new districts that have been waiting for expansion for more than 20 years, namely: Trikora, Kogowa, Balitender and other regencies.

Another statement of position is that LMA does not mind if 7 customary territories in Papua become 7 provinces. Furthermore, if there are other areas that are possible to be expanded, they should be opened immediately.

It is known, the idea of dividing Papua Province into a number of New Autonomous Regions has now been discussed in several draft laws, namely the Bill on the Province of South Papua, Central Papua Province and the Province of Papua Central Mountains.

SOURCE: https://www.jurnas.com/article/119578/Lembaga-Masyarakat-Adat-Papua-Dukung-Pemekaran-Provinsi-Papua-Ini-The Reason/