Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Fifty tribal leaders from Merauke, Boven Digoel, Asmat and Mappi have demanded the Papua people's assembly (MRP) soon process the proposed development of the four regencies into a new province separate from Papua.
During their meeting in Jayapura on Wednesday, the leaders presented the MRP with wati marind, a native Merauke plant. Agus Alua Alue, chairing the assembly, and other members received the plant and chewed it to show respect to the honorable guests.
The plant, symbolizing peace and harmony, is always used in traditional rituals and cultural events, reflecting the Merauke people's love of peace and cosmic harmony, especially among tribes and between humans and nature.
During the two-hour dialogue, the tribal leaders and MRP member from Merauke, Kamirus Gebze, asked the assembly to speed up the formation of the new province so they could deal with home affairs to better serve their public and improve social welfare.
"We are appealing to the assembly to soon issue a recommendation as a prerequisite for the formation of the new province, as is required by the law on special autonomy for Papua. Representing residents of the four regencies, we come here to bring this aspiration to the assembly," said Joseph Gebze, who lead the tribal delegation.
Gebze reiterated the proposed formation of the new province had won political support from the House of Representatives, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and former governor Jaap Salossa. The House has endorsed the bills on the formation of four new regencies, including South Papua, but they are yet to be deliberated with the government.
Joseph Gebze insisted the four regencies had great economic potential in the mining, agriculture, tourism and forestry sectors.
"We have spacious territory, mostly covered with rainforest, and many qualified workers. Our economic development has lagged behind because of poor infrastructure and the lack of attention paid to Papua's southern part," he said.
He also warned they would resort to other means to fight for the new province's formation, although said they would not use violence. In his response, Agus said the recommendation for the formation of a new province should be issued by the governor.
"The recommendation should be issued by the governor after getting an approval from the provincial legislature and the MRP. The problem is the governor has not submitted any proposal to the MRP or the provincial legislature," he said, suggesting the tribal leaders meet the governor to discuss the issue.
Following the meeting with the MRP, the tribal leaders questioned the political commitment of the local elite in Papua to speed up economic and democratic development.
Joseph Mahuse, another tribal leader, said the new province would have much to offer: Merauke, now 101 years old, is known as the rice belt in the province; Boven Digoel has spacious rainforest and oil and gas deposits; Mappi is known for its quality Gaharu wood supplied to the international market and Asmat is internationally known for its unique arts.
"A part of the new province's territory has seen little development and most people are still living in poverty and backwardness because of the absence of infrastructure and special attention from the government," said Mahuse.
The four regencies, with a total size of 198,500 square-kilometers, have a total population of 466,500, almost half that of Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi.
Mahuse said despite the poverty and "backwardness", the people in the four regencies were optimistic of significant progress under the new province and an improvement in social welfare.
"So far, we have had two 737-200 Boeing airplanes, light aircraft and four ships come to support public transportation. We will immediately build highway networks connecting the four regencies to break the isolation of remote areas," he said.