Jayapura – Development planning in the province of Papua is not being handled well even though the province has huge sums of money, in the form of general allocations as well as special autonomy funds from the central government.

Frans Maniagasi, member of the Papua Working Group said that at the medium-term Planning Constultation held on Wednesday (25/10), in Jayapura, he asked a question about planning policy in Papua and whether it was meeting the needs of the Papuans or meeting the wishes of the regional government.

"If it's only based on what the government wants, those billions of rupiahs will be wasted,' said Frans.

He went on to say that up to now, as much as 75 per cent of the budget has been used for physical construction, whilst improving human resources has hardly been touched. This is despite the fact that improving human resources is extremely important because so many Papuans are very poor and do not yet enjoying a decent standard of living.

Even worse he said, the provincial government is planning to construct a toll road from Sorong to Jayapura which will destroy four national parks.

"Do the people really need a toll road at a time when poverty is still so widespread? It is wrong to treat Papua in the same way as Java because Papua is in the international spotlight and it acts as the lungs of the world; its forests must not be destroyed like this,' he said.

Meanwhile, Director-General of Regional Development Guidance at the Department of the Interior, Syamsul Arief Rivai, said that careful planning was essential in deciding how to use the special autonomy (Otsus) funds in Papua.

"Otsus Papua is for the province, and the needs lie in the districts and towns, which means that distribution of the funds must be well planned.'

In his opinion, the province should be demanding that programmes to combat poverty in the towns and the districts should be synchronised. Many regions, including Papua have large suns of money at their disposal but targets have not been correctly identified. (sie)