goodmorningpapua.com – The government and the House of Representatives (DPR) have ratified the revision of the Papua Special Autonomy Law on July 15, 2021. After nearly 20 years, the community was asked not to see the impact of Papuan Otsus in black and white.
The request came from the Presidential Special Staff, Billy Mambrasar, during the online discussion of the Merdeka Barat 9 Forum, Monday (9/8). In his opinion, Otsus and Papua development are a process of policy making through consultative efforts. It means that the programs implemented are compiled based on what happens in the bottom, then policies are arranged from up according to these conditions, and the whole process is a long one. Therefore, the long process cannot only be translated into two conclusions, namely success or failure.
“Otsus gets success or failure is like a black and white question. Even though we are talking about development, it is a process from point A to point B. If we haven’t reached point B, at least we are walking well to point B. That’s the process, and we’ll see what the process looks like,” said Billy.
Billy does not agree with the assessment of many parties who only judge this long process with the two conclusions mentioned above. Instead, he asked all parties to consider the process. The process, for example, can be explained by the changes occurring based on numbers.
“If we see the number of poor people in the 2000s, the figure was almost 50 percent, to be exact 46.5 percent. But if we look at 2020, it will take down drastically to 26.8 percent for Papua and in West Papua to 21.7 percent. It is far away,” said Billy.
The 1996 Human Development Index in Papua was only 60.20. In 2020, Billy said, with citing existing data, the number had increased to 65. The literacy rate in Papua in the 2000s was in the range of 70 percent, currently in Papua it has reached 88 percent.
Billy said, those who use a fail-success or black and white perspective, do not see the process as working well. Comparing the national figures for each assessment standard with the figures achieved by Papua is also considered misleading.
“Development is a progress, and don’t forget that Otsus only existed in 2001 and is still going on,” added Billy.
This young Papuan leader also argues that the most important thing at this time is the development actors there and not just norms or the rule of law. Papuan youth must take control to take different approaches, which make development progress better, said Billy.