Special Autonomy and the spirit to build Papua

On November 21, the Special Autonomy for Papua is now 20 years old since the issuance of Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for the Province of Papua.
 
The Papua Special Autonomy Policy is inseparable from the long history of friction between the Papua region, which was then still called Irian Jaya, and the Central Government prior to the reform.
 
At that time, the sentiment of injustice received by Papua had given rise to various turmoils in the past that led to the process of disintegration. This is a response to the socio-economic injustice experienced by the Papuan people.
 
Such weaknesses trigger demands for the right to enjoy the results of development fairly for the Papuan people.
 
The conditions at that time coincided with the economic crisis experienced by Indonesia in 1998 which prompted the birth of a reform movement that changed the national political, social and economic landscape.
 
The momentum for major change was used by the people and the elite in Irian Jaya to reform the relations between the Center and Irian Jaya.
 
The goal is to place Irian Jaya as an area that has the same development priority as other regions in Indonesia.
 
In 2000-2001, the Papuan delegation fought for a "special autonomy" policy for Papua.
 
After going through a comprehensive study and involving various related parties, the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) and the then President gave their approval to issue a special Autonomy (Otsus) policy.
 
"In the form of Law No. 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for the Papua Province, which was signed by the President of Indonesia, Mrs. Megawati Soekarnoputri on November 21, 2001," said Director of Special Autonomy and DPOD of the Ministry of Home Affairs Valentinus Sudarjanto Sumito.
 
Then in 2003, President Megawati also issued Presidential Decree (Keppres) No. 1 of 2003 which divides the province of Papua into two namely Papua and West Papua in order to encourage the land of Papua to be advanced and equal to other regions.
 
Currently, the government is refining Papua's Special Autonomy in order to provide maximum efforts in developing Papua.
 
The special autonomy of Papua and West Papua was actually born with the spirit of developing Papua by accelerating all aspects to make it better.
 
Positive impact

After Law Number 21 of 2001 was issued and started to be implemented on January 1, 2002, all Indonesians hope to witness the positive changes that have occurred in Papua.
 
It is hoped that the turmoil that has been experienced politically can be quelled through this policy. This policy is also considered to be able to answer various aspirations and demands that the government pay more attention to Papua's development.
 
There are four priority programs of special autonomy to spur the development of the people and the Papua region, namely education, health, people's economic empowerment, and infrastructure development.
 
After running for approximately twenty years, in general there is an increase in welfare in Papua and West Papua as a result of the special autonomy policy.
 
The human development index (HDI) increased quite significantly, from 54.45 in 2010 to 60.84 in 2019 for Papua (an increase of 6.4), and from 59.6 in 2010 to 64.7 in 2019 for West Papua (an increase of 4 ,9).
 
The average increase is better than the national average of 0.53 per year.
 
The number of poor people in Papua also decreased from 50 percent in 1999 to 27.74 percent for Papua and 23.01 percent for West Papua in 2019.
 
In the field of education, statistical data shows that there is an increase in the quality of education in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, although it is not yet significant.
 
Expected years of schooling (HLS) in Papua Province increased from 9.94 years in 2014 to 11.05 years in 2019 (1.11 years), while in West Papua HLS increased from 11.87 years to 12.53 years from 2014 to 2019 (0.66 years).
 
Meanwhile, the average length of schooling (RLS) in Papua Province increased by 0.89 years from 5.76 years in 2014 to 6.65 years in 2019 and for West Papua Province it increased by 0.31 years from 6.96 years in 2014. to 7.27 years in 2019.
 
HLS and RLS Papua and West Papua from time to time actually continue to increase even though the numbers have not yet reached the national average.
 
Furthermore, judging from the illiteracy rate, the decline in illiteracy rates in the provinces of Papua and West Papua is quite significant.
 
On average a decline of 1.69 percent per year for Papua and 0.64 percent per year for West Papua, the total national illiteracy rate decreased by 0.43 percent per year.
 
In relation to infrastructure development in Papua and West Papua, it can be seen from the statistics on the percentage of access to proper drinking water that there is also an increase.
 
The average increase in access to safe drinking water is 1.73 percent per year for Papua and 4.07 percent per year for West Papua.
 
In addition to access to proper drinking water, there is also an increase in access to proper sanitation in Papua with an increase of 1.55 percent per year and in West Papua with a percentage of 4.13 percent per year, while the national figure is recorded at 2.42 percent per year. year.


SOURCE : https://www.antaranews.com/berita/2562841/otsus-dan-semangat-menbangun-papua