Keerom Youth's Hope for Special Autonomy Volume Two

The implementation of the Special Autonomy (Otsus) policy for the Provinces of Papua and West Papua until 2041 gives great hope to the Indigenous Papuans to catch up with other provinces in Indonesia. In Volume Two of Special Autonomy which starts from 2021 to 2041, the Government provides Papua Special Autonomy funds taken from 2.25 percent of the General Allocation Fund (DAU) portion.

Specifically for 2022, the Government has provided a budget of IDR 8.5 trillion as special autonomy funds for the provinces of Papua and West Papua. This does not include the Additional Infrastructure Fund (DTI) of IDR 4.37 trillion.

With such a large budget, the people of Papua hope that the results of its development can be felt in the villages. This hope, among others, was voiced by the youth of Keerom Regency, Ferdinan Fernando Asso.

“Because the special autonomy (fund) for us is a treasure that we really hope for, but so far it has not met our expectations. We hope that in Special Autonomy Volume Two, the results of the development will be more visible and more tangible, and more efficient," said Ferdinan Fernando Asso in Arso, Keerom Regency, Wednesday (30/11/2022).
 
So that the results can be more optimal, the engineering graduate who is usually called Nando wants the management of the Special Autonomy funds, especially during the Special Autonomy Volume Two era, to be carried out in a more transparent and systematically monitored manner, so that there are no more regional officials who deliberately commit irregularities to enrich myself.

Because of this, this young man born in Kampung Yammua, Arso, really appreciates the steps that have been taken by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in order to rid Papua of the dirty practices of public money managers.

Moreover, the steps taken by the KPK to examine the Governor of Papua Lukas Enembe as a suspect in the alleged corruption case were carried out exactly in the first year that Special Autonomy Volume Two had just started rolling. According to him, this step is also a positive lesson for regional officials in Papua to be more responsible in managing the Special Autonomy funds.

"Because the rampant acts of corruption in Papua are too extraordinary. I really hope that the Corruption Eradication Commission will intensify these investigations in Papua Province in terms of the use of the state budget. Because people at the grassroots level are tired of complaining," Nando said hopefully.
 
These complaints, continued Nando, were not far-fetched. This can be seen clearly from the high poverty rate and the crisis of the Human Development Index, which until now still has a bad rating for this easternmost province in Indonesia.

The Keerom youth who *had 4 years of education abroad* cited one of the provisions in the Special Autonomy Law (UU No. 2 of 2021) which contains the objectives of Papua's Special Autonomy, among others, to encourage the implementation of good governance.

According to him, regional officials in Papua, including people's representatives who sit in the Papuan People's Representative Council (DPRP) and the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) are people who have been given authority by the state to determine the direction of development in the Papua region, so that development in Cenderawasih Earth this can be in accordance with the ideals and desires of the Papuan people.

However, in his observations, the DPRP as a political institution and the MRP as a Papuan cultural institution have not functioned optimally in realizing the aspirations and desires of indigenous Papuans (OAP), especially in determining the direction of development.
 
In the future, Nando hopes, in the era of Special Autonomy Volume Two, the portion of the budget used for education can be optimized to send OAP young people to various universities abroad, so that they will later sit in various strategic positions in Cenderawasih Earth, both as regional officials, members of the legislature in the DPR RI, DPD and DPRP, as well as in the MRP.

"So that there are quality leaders born from the results of Special Autonomy," concluded Nando.

SOURCE : https://www.bisnisjakarta.co.id/2022/12/01/harapan-pemuda-keerom-terhadap-otsus-jilid-dua/