Profile of the New Guinea Province of South Papua

On Thursday, June 30, 2022, Indonesia arrived at a new history through the passage of three bills (RUU) related to the three new autonomous regions in Papua.

One of the three areas is the Province of South Papua.

In order to welcome this historic day, on Thursday (30/6) afternoon, a number of elements of the community stepped together to crowd the Merauke Regent's Office.

Merauke Regency, which was designated as the domicile of the capital city of South Papua Province, had the opportunity to be a silent witness when a giant 76-meter-long red and white flag was unfurled by the masses in order to welcome the ratification of the bill related to the formation of the South Papua Province.

As stated by the Regional Secretary (Sekda) of Merauke Regency Ruslan Ramli, the activity of unfurling the giant flag in the yard of the Merauke Regent's Office was a spontaneous action from the community as an expression of joy over the formation of the South Papua Province which they had been waiting for for 20 years.

As stated in the draft Bill on the Establishment of the South Papua Province, the presence of the South Papua Province is one of the government's efforts to organize the area so that the public services provided are more optimal.

Through the existence of South Papua Province, the span of government control can be shortened so that the public services provided will be more efficient and effective, in line with the principles of good governance.

Furthermore, it is also believed that this can encourage the acceleration of the realization of community welfare, strengthening regional competitiveness, and strengthening the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) in border areas with other countries or neighboring countries.

In the future, in the context of implementing regional autonomy, South Papua Province has a number of homework to do, such as carrying out various efforts to increase economic capacity, preparing government facilities and infrastructure, empowering and increasing human resources, and managing natural resources in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations. .
 
History of South Papua

The formation of the South Papua Province certainly did not just happen, as stated by one of the community leaders in Merauke who was also the initiator of the formation of the South Papua Province, Johanes Gluba Gebze.

According to Johanes, the initial aspirations for the formation of the South Papua Province were first declared in 2002 and re-submitted in 2020.

Thus, it can be understood that the journey of the formation of South Papua in order to make the Land of Papua more advanced is not a struggle to turn the palm of the hand. On the other hand, the journey to form the province, which is also known as the Anim Ha customary territory, took about 20 years.

Johanes also said that the South Papua region was an area designed by God on the southern rib of Papua. This vast flat land was awarded to six major tribes, namely the Marind, Muyu, Mandobo, Awyu, Mappi, and Asmat. They are the heirs of the South Papua region.

Long before the arrival of Europeans in the South Papua region, the area was inhabited by tribes who survived by hunting, gathering, and gardening. Then in the 19th century, Europeans began to colonize the island of Papua. They divided the area in a straight line which caused the western part to become Dutch New Guinea and the eastern part to become British territory.

Even so, Marind residents who were known as head hunters often crossed the border so that in 1902, as also published on the Wikipedia page, the Dutch government established a military post at the eastern tip of South Papua.

The post, which is located around the Maro River, was established to strengthen the border and eradicate the hunting tradition of the Marind residents. In addition, the Netherlands also made it a place for the spread of Catholicism which was also aimed at stopping the tradition of head hunting by the Marind people.

Gradually, the post became more and more crowded because of its location on the Maro River, the Dutch government also named the area Merauke as well as designated as the capital of the province of South New Guinea. The Javanese then began to arrive to clear rice fields there.

Over time, the Dutch received information about the existence of a larger river, namely the Digul River. Based on this information, the Dutch government moved quickly to make an expedition there. In fact, in the 1920s, an idea emerged from the Dutch to use the interior of Papua as a detention camp which they named Tanah Merah.

As narrated by Johanes, in other words, the Digul area is a place for national figures and proclaimers, such as Sutan Sjahrir and Moh. Hatta, exiled by the Dutch.

Long story short, in the 1960s, when the Dutch had left these areas, Tanah Merah became more and more crowded and eventually became the Regency of Boven Digoel. Around the 1960s, all of Dutch New Guinea was successfully controlled by Indonesia and the area of South New Guinea was changed to Merauke Regency.

Subsequently, in 2002, Merauke Regency was divided into four regencies, namely Merauke Regency as the parent regency, Boven Digoel Regency, Mappi Regency, and Asmat Regency. In 2022, the entire region will be unified into the Province of South Papua.
 
Area Coverage

In more detail, the draft of the Bill on the Establishment of the Province of South Papua also regulates the scope of the province.

The government and the DPR RI have determined that the Province of South Papua includes four regencies, namely Merauke Regency, Boven Digoel Regency, Mappi Regency, and Asmat Regency. Furthermore, it was also agreed that the capital city of South Papua Province is located in Merauke Regency.

With a total area covering the four regencies, as data compiled from the papua.go.id page, the area of South Papua Province reaches 127,280 square kilometers.

Meanwhile, based on data compiled from the website of the Central Statistics Agency for Papua Province, the population of South Papua Province which is a combination of the entire population in the four regencies in 2021 will reach 517,623 people.

The regional boundaries of South Papua Province cover a number of areas, namely the north bordering the Nduga Regency, Yahukimo Regency, and the Bintang Mountains Regency. Then, to the east it is bordered by the State of Papua New Guinea, to the south by the Arafura Sea, and to the west by Mimika Regency and the Aru Sea.

With a variety of community backgrounds, South Papua will have a number of languages that can be used by its people. Besides Indonesian as a unified language, there are also Asmat, Mandobo, Auyu, Wambon, Muyu, and even Javanese languages.

Through its establishment, the Province of South Papua is also authorized to manage natural resources in the area's seas and the procedures for drawing the boundaries of their management authority are in accordance with the provisions of the applicable laws and regulations.

Governance Framework

Then with regard to the governance framework, in addition to having a governor as a government administrator who leads all authorities at the provincial level and a regent/mayor as an element of district/city regional administration, there is also a legislative body that will balance the control of power in South Papua.

They are the South Papuan People's Representative Council (DPR) and the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) of South Papua Province. The DPR for South Papua is a provincial representative institution that is located as one of the elements of the regional administration of the South Papua Province.

Meanwhile, the MRP of South Papua Province is a cultural representation of indigenous Papuans who have certain authority in protecting the basic rights of indigenous Papuans based on respect for customs and culture, empowering women, and strengthening religious harmony, as regulated in laws and regulations. invitation.

South Papua Province also has special autonomy, namely special authority recognized and granted by the central government to the Papua Province and provinces in the Papua region to regulate and manage the interests of the local community according to its own initiative based on the aspirations and basic rights of the Papuan people, as stated has been regulated by laws and regulations.

Going forward, in the near future, as has been stated by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD, the Government will immediately form the administration of three new provinces in Papua, including South Papua, and regulate the availability of people's representatives there.

Hopefully all good intentions, such as the desire to advance Papua, realize equitable development, accelerate public services, improve community welfare, and elevate the dignity of indigenous Papuans, which underlies the formation of South Papua Province and the other two provinces, can be achieved in its entirety.

SOURCE : https://www.antaranews.com/berita/2986077/profil-dob-provinsi-papua-selatan