The Red and White Guard Supports the Sustainability of the Special Autonomy Fund

The West Papua Province Red and White Guard (GMP) supports the sustainability of the Special Autonomy Fund (Otsus) disbursed by the central government.

Chairman of the West Papua GMP, Saul Samuel Mandowen, said that the support of the Special Autonomy Fund is still needed to improve the quality of life for indigenous Papuans both in terms of health, education, people's economy and regional infrastructure development.

"Most of the people of Papua still live below the poverty line, so the Special Autonomy Fund is still needed to overcome this problem," said Saul in a written statement to West Papua News, Thursday (28/1/2021).

He understands that the governance of the Special Autonomy Fund for approximately 20 years has not been optimal. This has triggered the aspirations of many indigenous Papuans who reject sustainability in the future.

"On the way, sometimes there are obstacles, as well as management," he explained.

In the future, continued Saul, local governments both provincial and district / city in Papua and West Papua must formulate the governance of the Special Autonomy Fund so that it is able to target indigenous Papuans down to the grassroots level. Management must be transparent in order to maintain public confidence regarding the benefits of these funds.

"Repair it so that it is right on target in accordance with the mandate of Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Papua Special Autonomy," he said. "Improved governance is so that the Special Autonomy Fund can be felt by all indigenous Papuans," he added.

Reporting from DDTC, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani confirmed that the Papua Otus Fund will be extended until 2041. The government is currently discussing a bill on amendments to Law Number 21 of 2001 on Papua's Special Autonomy. The ceiling of the Special Autonomy Fund from 2% of the national DAU increases to 2.25% of the national DAU.

This means that the Special Autonomy Fund will increase twice as much as the Special Autonomy Fund that has been disbursed by the central government over the past two decades, namely Rp.101.2 trillion. This calculation assumes an increase in the DAU of 3.02% per year based on the average ceiling development over the past nine years.

"Our estimates are that if the state budget and general transfer funds develop according to long-term plans, the Special Autonomy Fund for the next 20 years will reach IDR 234.6 trillion," said Sri Mulyani during a working meeting with the DPD, Tuesday (26/1/2021).

The extension of the Otus Fund, continued Sri, would provide opportunities for Papua and West Papua Provinces to catch up with other regions in Indonesia. One of the indicators is the quality of health and the quality of human resources.

Sri Mulyani added that the distribution of the Special Autonomy Fund and additional infrastructure has been carried out since 2002 or since the Papua Special Autonomy Law was passed in 2001. These funds are routinely distributed every year.

"The total allocation of special autonomy funds and funds for infrastructure for Papua reached Rp. 138.65 trillion in 2002 to 2021," he said.
He explained that the Special Autonomy Fund and additional infrastructure do not include transfer funds to the regions and village funds worth Rp. 702.3 trillion, as well as spending by ministries / agencies in Papua and West Papua amounting to Rp. 251.29 trillion during 2005-2021.

For this reason, the average proportion of the Special Autonomy Fund and other TKDD funds to regional government revenue in Papua and West Papua is significant. As for the proportion of the Otsus Fund and other TKDD to local government revenues in Papua and West Papua, respectively 70% and 68% in the last five years.

Sri Mulyani explained that the special autonomy funds were used to meet the needs of education, health spending and improve the welfare of the people of Papua and West Papua.

In the field of education, the net enrollment rate (NER) in Papua and West Papua is recorded to continue to grow each year, respectively 1.08% and 0.68% per year. The average increase in Papua's NER is better than the national level of 0.74% per year, but West Papua is still lower.

In the health sector, continued Sri Mulyani, the average life expectancy of Papua and West Papua has increased to 0.15 years and 0.14 years, respectively. The national average is 0.17 years per year.

"Portraits in the last 10 years from various indicators of gaps, there are improvements but not much different so that the concept of gaps that should be closed with partiality and special autonomy may not be seen from the results of the quality of Papuan welfare," he said.

According to him, one of the reasons for the difficulty of pressing the gap in Papua and West Papua is due to weak governance. For example, compliance submitting the APBD. In Papua Province, 33% of local governments have not complied with submitting their APBD in the last 3 years. Then, West Papua has 29% local governments.

The value of the monitoring center for prevention from the KPK is also low, namely 34% for provinces, districts and cities in Papua or the second lowest rank. Meanwhile, West Papua is at 31%, or the lowest among other provinces, regencies and cities in Indonesia.

Sri Mulyani also explained a number of strategies for improving the governance of the Papua and West Papua special autonomy funds, including by improving governance designs that support strengthening accountability and transparency.

The Minister of Finance will also strengthen the Government's Internal Supervisory Apparatus (APIP) by involving the Finance and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) and increasing supervision by strengthening synergies between ministries / institutions. Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics show that the West Papua Province Human Development Index (HDI) in 2020 is 65.09, an increase of 0.60% from 2019, namely 64.70.

However, West Papua's HDI is lower than the National HDI which was recorded at 71.94. So that West Papua Province becomes the province with the second lowest HDI after Papua Province which was recorded at 60.44.

Source: http://papuabaratnews.co/editorial/garda-merah-putih-dukung-kebererdekaan-dana-otsus/