Senator Filep Questions Poverty in Papua and its Relation to Corruption Eradication

29 September 2022 oleh admin

JAKARTA, dpd.go.id - West Papua Senator Filep Wamafma conveyed a number of important notes regarding the condition of poverty in Papua and West Papua. Filep highlighted the title of poverty that has always been attached to the two provinces in Indonesia's easternmost region. This time, he gave a different point of view regarding this label of poverty.

According to Filep, the label of the poorest province refers to the percentage of poverty based on BPS data for March 2022, which states that the provinces of Papua and West Papua occupy the top rank in the percentage of poverty in Indonesia. In this data, the number of poor people in Papua is 922.12 thousand people (26.56% of the total population), and the number of poor people in West Papua is 218.78 thousand people (21.33% of the total population).

"However, if we look at the largest number of poor people, they are not from Papua and West Papua, but from the provinces of East Java, West Java, Central Java, and North Sumatra. This is also based on BPS data for March 2022. So nationally, the four provinces account for the largest number of poor people. This also needs to be cleared up,” said Filep, Thursday (29/9/2022).

Referring to data from BPS 2022, it shows that in March 2022, the province with the highest number of poor people is East Java, namely 4,181.29 thousand people, followed by West Java with 4,070.98 thousand people, Central Java with 3,831.44 thousand people, and North Sumatra with 1,268.19 thousand people.

“Papua and West Papua are always ranked as the poorest, because their percentages are compared to their small population. At this point, it is necessary to rethink various indicators for the designation of the poorest regions/provinces. If the BPS poverty indicator also uses asset data, for example land assets that can be converted into money or certain income, then Papua and West Papua may not be categorized as poor. Millions of land in Papua and West Papua belong to indigenous peoples who are very valuable," said Filep.

Furthermore, Vice Chairman of Committee I DPD RI said that the issue of poverty has recently been highlighted because of allegations of budget abuse practices in the regions. This issue became even more sensitive when the Governor of Papua, Lukas Enembe, was named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Filep's view is that if it is related to the allegations of corruption committed by Lukas Enembe, the debate may start from political responsibility and budgetary responsibility. According to him, the handling of cases of suspected budget abuse also needs to be investigated structurally against other related parties based on their authority.

"The governor is in charge of politics, while below him are officials who use the budget, for example regional secretaries, finance departments, regional apparatuses. This series of policy decisions is actually the focus of law enforcement. Budget abuse is often related to conflicts of interest from budget users. Therefore, if you want to open it transparently, then everything must be opened structurally," explained the doctor of law alumnus of Hasanuddin University.

Apart from that, Filep also highlighted the handling of corruption cases by the Papua Police. He explained, based on data from January to August 2014, the Papua Police had handled 118 corruption cases and in 2015, there was a decrease in the handling of corruption cases. Furthermore, in 2019, in the first six months, there were 73 corruption cases being handled and throughout 2021, there were 79 corruption cases being handled. However, only 20 cases were transferred to the prosecutor's office.

“The problem is, to what extent have all these cases been resolved in a transparent and accountable manner? So it is reasonable if the public also questions the ability of the Regional Police in resolving corruption cases in the regions," he said.

Meanwhile, Filep also paid attention to the link between poverty and the use of Special Autonomy funds. Until 2022, Papua and West Papua have received transfers of the Special Autonomy Fund (DOK), Additional Infrastructure Funds (DTI), and Oil and Gas Production Sharing Funds (DBH) of IDR 154.91 trillion in the framework of implementing Special Autonomy in the Land of Papua .

According to him, if calculated simply, it is estimated that many elementary school children in Papua and West Papua who started school in 2002, with the amount of the Special Autonomy Fund Rp. 1,382,300,000,000, are estimated to have successfully completed their studies, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Of course this will also affect the HDI in Papua and West Papua because the level of education also affects the welfare of the people of Papua.

However, continued Filep, the facts speak otherwise. BPS data states that only 80,427 undergraduate students from Papua in 2019 out of a population of 3,322,526 people.

“So, where did all the huge education budget from the Special Autonomy Fund go? For this reason, it is also necessary to examine whether the Special Autonomy funds were used by certain agencies other than those intended by Special Autonomy, or what form was the alleged misuse of the budget? Filep said.

"Actually, the function of the auditor also exists in the regions, for example through the inspectorate and BPKP. Likewise the audit results of the BPK, inspectorate, BPKP, should be used as a legal reference for law enforcers in the regions to resolve corruption issues in the regions," he continued.

Therefore, Filep hopes that there will be a thorough evaluation regarding the use of Special Autonomy funds which are currently increasingly in the public spotlight. He hopes that, in addition to the use of the special autonomy funds, the overall mandate of the Special Autonomy Law in the framework of improving the welfare of the Papuan people can also be carried out in an appropriate manner. (*)