Papua New Guinea Acceleration of Equitable Development

The New Autonomous Region (DOB) in Papua can be the right step to accelerate equitable development throughout Indonesia. The Papua New Guinea will help accelerate development in Papua, improve public services, and the welfare of the Papuan people.

The Papua New Guinea which has been officially ratified is very much needed by the Papuan people. This is because Papua has a fairly large area and its location is far from the State Capital, so it has its own challenges in its management. DOB will answer all challenges in Papua management, by widening the span of control so that public services to all Papuan people can be realized optimally.

After the adoption of the new autonomous regions, Papua now has the addition of three new provinces. The new provinces are Central Papua Province, South Papua Province, and Papua Mountains Province. These three new provinces will make the new regional government centers closer to people in remote areas, and can bring public service facilities such as administrative, health, and educational facilities to areas that previously did not have them.

Member of Commission II of the DPR from the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction, Guspardi Gaus, said the expansion of the three new autonomous regions in Papua is part of the government's efforts to accelerate development and realize the welfare of the Papuan people. He hopes that the expansion of this new province can provide great benefits for the Papuan people and the political will of the Government to achieve community welfare that is increasingly directed, integrated, and sustainable.

For information, political will is the political will of the government or policy makers. Political will can be the basis of public confidence in the government. If the public believes that the government has the political will, then the public will give good grades and support to the government.

The establishment of three new autonomous regions in Papua is a mandate and implementation of Law Number 2 of 2021 concerning Special Autonomy (Otsus) for Papua, specifically Article 76 of Law Number 2 of 2021 which is lex specialis. Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights (Wamenkumham) Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej stated that the special autonomy in Papua has a systematic lex specialis nature. The purpose of these characteristics is very special and aims to prevent conflicts between the implementing rules under it and the Law itself.

In a webinar entitled Expansion of Papua Province of The Youth Generation, the Chairperson of Papuan Indigenous Leaders Jan Christian Arebo stated that the division of the province in Papua is in line with the policy of accelerating development. Jan Christian added that the new autonomous region policy in Papua is an extraordinary policy from President Joko Widodo and is a manifestation of the government's seriousness in building the welfare of the Papuan people.

The establishment of the Papua New Guinea can improve the welfare of the people in Papua, because it can give more attention to the Papuan people by providing more equitable public services to the community. The Papua New Guinea will also absorb human resources, especially Papuan Orang Asli (OAP) which will certainly benefit the younger generation of Papuans, who have abilities in various fields.

The Papua New Guinea is very profitable for OAP because it gives a special affirmation to OAP to become part of the state apparatus, where 80% of ASN filling formations will be filled in. Not only that, the implementation of new autonomous regions in Papua will create an opportunity for the first time to fill ASN by accepting OAP aged 48 years for ASN candidates and 50 years old for honorary staff. This is a new policy, because previously the age limit for these two formations was 35 years.

The government has also made a roadmap or policy direction in implementing the operationalization of government operations in 3 new provinces in Papua. The roadmap that has been prepared is in the form of a mechanism for the inauguration of the PJ Governor, Provincial Inauguration, ASN Management, to the process of forming the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) and so on. This series of policies is a proof of the government's alignment to raise the dignity of OAP and has been very earnestly fought for.

Currently, the government has formed a special agency tasked with synchronizing, harmonizing, evaluating, reporting, and coordinating integrated development in the Papua region. This special agency is directly chaired by the Vice President and consists of Cabinet Ministers, Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) officials and officials from Papua.

In addition to making a roadmap for the implementation of new autonomous regions, the Government will also provide assistance and supervision so that development in the new autonomous region of Papua can run optimally in realizing development funds in various fields. This is a form of accountability because the entire budget for the implementation of this new autonomous region is sourced from the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN), as agreed by Commission II of the DPR and also the Government of Indonesia.

Hopefully in the future the Papuan people can feel a significant improvement in terms of economy, education, access to health, bureaucratic/government services and so on. Because new autonomous regions can act as a way to reduce social jealousy that triggers conflict, and as a way to accelerate equitable development in Papua.

SOURCE: https://portalnawacita.com/dob-papua-cepatan-pemerataan-pemkembangan/