Addition Of 3 Provinces In Papua For The Sake Of Bringing Services Closer To The Citizens, Wpres: Our Leaders Prioritize Indigenous Papuans

The Youtefa Bridge is one of the infrastructure connecting the area of the vast province of Papua. (doc of the Ministry of PUPR)

JAKARTA - The DPR and the government have agreed to issue three laws for the formation of a new province in Papua. Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said the division of Papua was to improve the quality of services for the community.

"The expansion is one of the efforts to provide services closer to the community, meaning that if the area is divided into services, the coordination is closer with the community", said the Vice President in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Thursday, June 30.

The addition of three provinces in Papua was agreed upon by the House of Representatives (DPR) and the government at the 26th Plenary Meeting of the House of Representatives (DPR) for the V session of the 2021-2022 Session Year, today, Thursday, June 30.

The plan, which is still in the form of a draft law, consists of a bill on the province of South Papua, a bill on the province of Central Papua, and a bill on the province of Papua in the mountains.

"This is the goal to make it easier to serve the community to prosper. If the service is too far in one province, the service is not optimal", said the vice president.

Based on the Antara report, the division of the province in Papua is by the mandate of Law Number 2 of 2021 concerning Special Autonomy for Papua. Mainly Article 76 which consists of five paragraphs.

The five pillars are that expansion must pay attention to political, administrative, legal, unitary, socio-cultural aspects, the readiness of human resources, basic infrastructure, and economic capacity.

"We are committed that those who will become leaders will prioritize indigenous Papuans. Therefore, the DPR has carried out various assessments, the RDP (Hearing Meetings), has carried out various assessments in several regions in Papua, even the governor himself has approved its preparation", he said.

However, several parties criticized the policy, including the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) which stated that the formation of three new autonomous regions (DOB) in Papua was not in the wishes of the people.

"I don't think there are 1-2 parties, it doesn't reflect the majority, that there are, but according to research results, they (the Papuan people) support the expansion because they want to be served more quickly. Our efforts will continue to carry out socialization, and dialogue, giving them a deeper understanding", said the Vice President.

The chairman of the MRP, Timotius Murib, said that the changes to the 2001 Special Autonomy Law did not involve the participation of the Papuan people.

If in Law no. 21/2001 concerning Otsus Papua, regional expansion in Papua must be approved by the MRP and the Papuan House of Representatives (DPRP), in Law no. 2/2021 there is an additional paragraph that makes the approval mechanism not mandatory and division can be carried out at the initiative of the central government and the DPR.

Another objection is that the three new provinces, namely Central Papua, Highlands Papua, and South Papua, do not care about the composition of indigenous peoples by region. In fact, this separation can lead to conflicts like what is happening in Nabire and several other locations.

The names of the three new provinces in Papua were proposed and adapted to the customary territory. South Papua Province will be named Anim Ha with the capital city Merauke and the scope of the area of Merauke Regency, Mappi Regency, Asmat Regency, and Boven Digoel Regency.

Then Central Papua Province will be called Meepago with the capital city of Timika and the scope of the territory of Mimika Regency, Paniai Regency, Dogiyai Regency, Deyiai Regency, Intan Jaya Regency, and Puncak Regency.

Meanwhile, the Central Mountains Papua Province will be named Lapago with the capital city of Wamena and the scope of the area of Jayawijaya Regency, Puncak Jaya Regency, Lanny Jaya Regency, Central Mamberamo Regency, Nduga Regency, Tolikara Regency, Yahukimo Regency, and Yalimo Regency.