Jakarta – Indonesia needs to speed up development in the eastern area of Papua, a remote part the country where a low-level armed rebellion has simmered for decades, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday.

Papua, comprising two provinces on the west half of New Guinea island, has long been under the scrutiny of Western groups critical of how Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, treats the predominantly Christian and ethnically distinct area.

"The improvement of peoples' prosperity in two Papua provinces is slow. Special autonomy has not been implemented in a good way," Yudhoyono told reporters after a cabinet meeting on the issue.

"I will issue a presidential decree to accelerate the development in the two Papuan provinces. Funds will come from the region and the central government," he said.

Papua, with a population of two million occupying a land area almost as large as Iraq, has around 300 indigenous tribes, some still living in virtually Stone Age conditions, with different sets of languages and traditions.

Yudhoyono said transport infrastructure would be priority to boost the local economy. "We hope in three to five years we will see significant results of this acceleration programmes," he said.

After human rights abuses against indigenous Papuans under the autocratic rule of President Suharto were unearthed, the Indonesian government in 2001 issued a law giving Papua a bigger share of revenue from its rich mineral and natural resources and more freedom in running its own affairs. Suharto left office in 1998.

Despite the pledge, critics say Papuans have often failed to gain much from the resources in the area.

Mining giant Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., operates the world's second-largest copper mine, Grasberg, in Papua.

The Freeport operation has been a frequent source of controversy in Indonesia, with issues ranging from its impact on the environment and the share of revenue going to native Papuans and the Papua government to the legality of payments to Indonesian security forces who help guard the site.