Papuan Student Alliance Benny Wenda Declaration

The Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) strongly rejects the declaration of the leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda, which states the formation of a West Papua government.

In this declaration, Benny claimed that West Papua had separated from Indonesia so that it was no longer subject to all of its regulations. He also called himself the president of the Republic of West Papua.

The Secretary-General of the Papua Student Alliance (AMP), Rajid Patiran, rejected Benny Wenda's unilateral claim regarding the declaration of the separation of West Papua from the Republic of Indonesia. According to him, Wenda's claims were solely for his personal interests abroad and not for the benefit of the Papuan people.

"The government and all state apparatus, both the TNI and Polri, should take a firm stance against those who have personal interests outside the interests of the Republic of Indonesia. Don't let the public be provoked by this, ”said Rajid, after holding a discussion on Papua's special autonomy (Otsus) in Ciputat, South Tangerang (Tangsel).

Rajid explained, the choice of the Republic of Indonesia was absolutely the final decision for the Papuan people. So that at this time, he said, it was more relevant to talk about how to evaluate policies that were given for the progress of Papua and its people.

"Indeed, we think that Otsus still has problems, but not then referendum issues will arise. Because the most important thing right now is to build economic prosperity, infrastructure, humanize Papuans, so that they sit the same low and stand the same height, ”he explained.

Therefore, continued Rajid, the use of Otsus funds related to development in Papua and West Papua must be in harmony between human resource development (HR) and physical development. Moreover, there is a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) regarding the acceleration of development policies and the welfare of Papua.

"Because of that all elements need to sit together, so that Otsus can be more optimal. What the central government hopes is also supported by the regions. "It is necessary to create a forum for joint dialogue, and not to create your own group and then come to the Center and speak in your own interest so as to confuse state policy makers," he explained again.

Furthermore, said Rajid, Otsus does need to be evaluated so that policies from the provincial to district levels can be uniform. Often, according to him, policy dualism occurs so that the budget cannot be executed at the district level. This happened because the district did not have access to the Otsus policy.

"One of the indicators, the welfare index in Papua is still low, which indicates that Otsus has not optimally answered welfare. Therefore, in the future, it is necessary to establish a clear mechanism, who will rotate the Special Autonomy fund, how to evaluate the supervision, and discuss it carefully between the central government and the provincial government, "he said.

In the discussion, he explained how since 2001 Papua and West Papua have obtained the status of the Special Autonomy region through Law (UU) Number 21 of 2001 and West Papua through Law no. 35 of 2008.

In addition to accelerating and catching up with development from other regions, the spirit of establishing Otsus is the granting of the widest possible authority to local governments to formulate, compile, and design development strategies needed by local communities.