Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua People's Council (MRP) has formed four teams to gauge public opinion in West Irian Jaya about the controversial proposal to form the area into a separate province.
MRP head Agus Alue Alua said in Jayapura the teams would work from Jan. 19 to Jan. 31, and share their results with bureaucrats, political and public figures, non-governmental organizations and elected councillors from the West Irian Jaya legislature.
Agus said one team would speak to people in Manokwari municipality, encompassing the areas of Manokwari, Bintuni and Teluk Wondama; the second team would work in Sorong, South Sorong and Raja Ampat regencies, and Sorong municipality; and a third team would be sent to Fakfak municipality and Fakfak and Kaimana regencies. A fourth team will meet with West Irian Jaya councillors in Manokwari.
Agus said each team would reach out to different segments of the population, including women, traditional and religious groups, NGOs involved in social welfare and human rights, and political parties. "The teams will speak with people and organizations to gauge public opinion on the issue of autonomy," Agus said.
Agus said so far the only ones discussing the issue of dividing West Irian Jaya off from the rest of Papua were elected West Irian Jaya councillors, and other segments of the population had to be heard from. "We will send the results of the survey to Jakarta," he said.
The survey results will also be taken into consideration by the MRP as it decides whether to approve or reject West Irian Jaya's petition for autonomy. This kind of public consensus, Agus said, was in line with Law No. 21/2001 on regional autonomy.
Agus explained that an agreement was reached during a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla in Jakarta on Jan. 9, that the governor of Papua, the Papua legislature and the MRP should resolve the issue of autonomy for West Irian Jaya in the timeframe between Feb. 15 and the middle of May.
The governor should already have submitted a proposal on the creation of West Irian Jaya province to the Papua legislature for deliberation, and then presented the proposal to the MRP to be studied and approved or rejected within the agreed to timeframe.
The MRP would then have the chance to determine public opinion of the proposal during the process, Agus said.
Agus urged every segment of the population, including the central government, to follow the law on regional autonomy, especially the paragraph that states the creation of a new province should be proposed at the grassroots level up, not from the central government down.
"This is what has happened in West Irian Jaya, when the central government, in favor of autonomy, urged the MRP to approve (the new province)," he said.
Agus also expressed regret over the central government's decision to begin the process of strengthening the bureaucracy in West Irian Jaya while the issue of autonomy had yet to be resolved.
West Irian Jaya caretaker governor Timbul Pudjianto has already appointed Abdul Gani Yudean to head the justice and human rights office in the proposed province. "The central government should not appoint officials to strategic posts before autonomy is granted," said Agus.