Ulma Haryanto – Standards of living in Papua have continuously risen during the past 13 years, according to the Papua Office of the Central Statistics Agency, a claim vehemently disputed by researchers and activists.

Between 1999 and 2011, the agency known as the BPS said the number of people in poverty in Papua, Indonesia's most impoverished yet resource-rich territory, decreased by 23.51 percent, from 54.75 percent in March 1999 to 31.24 percent in September 2011.

The BPS claimed the government's policy of "special autonomy," widely criticized for having led to the further spread of endemic corruption and social injustices, was behind the improving figures. But activists and researchers said the figures should not be considered out of context.

Wahyu Prasetyawan, political economist from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), told the Jakarta Globe that the BPS statistics should not be taken at face value. "There is a problem with [the government's] poverty line because it is considered too low," Wahyu said.

The government recently lowered the threshold at which people are considered to be in severe poverty, effectively cooking the books.

While the World Bank counts anyone earning less than $2 a day to be poor and those earning less than $1 a day to be extremely poor, Indonesian poverty levels begin at less than $1 a day. So those considered officially poor by the government are considered to be living in extreme poverty by the World Bank and other agencies.

As of September 2011, the number of poor people in Papua officially stood at 917,050, or 31.24 percent of the population, BPS data show. Almost all of them live in rural areas.

Muridan Satrio Widjojo from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) agreed with Wahyu that the standard the BPS employed was a useless measure. "It is impossible to live in the cities of Papua with less than Rp 263,000 [$29] a month because everything is so expensive there," Muridan said.

For example, he continued, the cheapest meal in Jayapura, the capital of West Papua, is Rp 15,000, drinks not included. "In contrast, people living in the rural areas can easily make do with less than Rp 200,000 a month because they usually cultivate the land and hunt for food," Muridan added.

Even so, Wahyu said, there still might be some truth to the BPS's claims. "The provinces received a lot of money from the state for setting up their regional autonomy programs, and they are being used for infrastructure projects, which means more work for people," he said.

Between 2002 and 2010, the central government disbursed Rp 28.1 trillion to Papua.

But the head of Papua's Baptist church, Rev. Socratez Sofyan Yoman, seemed offended by the agency's claims.

"The government is spreading lies to the public," he said. "Situations here clearly have not improved because I see every day there are more Papuans loitering around on the streets in the city than before."

"If the numbers are true, then why I haven't seen a native Papuan owning a business yet? The truth is, we are being pushed further aside," he added.