Get to know the Papua Special Autonomy Fund

Papua Special Autonomy Fund

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Papua Special Autonomy has been running for nearly 20 years after the enactment of Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for Papua Province.

In order to accelerate the increase in the degree of welfare and economic development of the people in Papua and West Papua, the government has disbursed special autonomy funds or autonomy funds. Then what exactly are the Papua and West Papua special autonomy funds?

The special autonomy fund is a grant from the central government to certain provincial governments. The autonomy fund is given by the central government as a consequence of the special autonomy status. Post-reform, currently there are 3 provinces with special autonomy status, namely Papua Province, West Papua Province, and Aceh Province.

The grants provided by the central government are also in the form of special funds for DI Yogyakarta. Quoted from Kompas Daily, in the financial note along with the 2020 State Budget it was stated that Papua’s special autonomy funds were mainly used for funding education and health.

In 2015, the special autonomy fund for Papua was valued at Rp. 4.9 trillion and for West Papua Rp. 2.1 trillion. The special autonomy fund will continue to be increased until 2020 to Rp. 5.9 trillion for Papua and Rp. 2.5 trillion for West Papua.

The following is the allocation of the special autonomy funds for Papua and West Papua from year to year:

2002: IDR 1,382 trillion
2003: IDR 1.539 trillion
2004: IDR 1,642 trillion
2005: IDR 1,775 trillion
2006: IDR 3.449 trillion
2007: IDR 4.045 trillion
2008: IDR 3,920 trillion
2009: IDR 4.079 trillion
2010: IDR 3,494 trillion
2011: IDR 3.957 trillion
2012: IDR 4,404 trillion
2013: IDR 4,927 trillion
2014: IDR 6.777 trillion
2015: IDR 7,190 trillion
2016: IDR 5.595 trillion
2017: IDR 8,240 trillion
2018: IDR 7,980 trillion
2019: IDR 8,632 trillion
2020: IDR 8,370 trillion

Separately, for Aceh in 2020 it will receive special autonomy funds of Rp. 8.4 trillion. Meanwhile, DI Yogyakarta has a special fund of IDR 1.3 trillion.

Apart from the special autonomy fund, additional infrastructure funds were also provided. Total additional infrastructure funds for Papua and West Papua Provinces were set at Rp 3 trillion in 2015, increasing to Rp 4.7 trillion in the 2020 State Budget. Accelerating the improvement of the welfare of Papuans was also a priority for the government in the reform era. One way, the implementation of special autonomy since 2001.

Since 2002, the special autonomy funds disbursed for Papua and West Papua have reached Rp. 126.99 trillion. However, Papua and West Papua are among the provinces with the highest percentage of poor people in Indonesia. Since the first time it was distributed, the total funding support that was distributed increased from time to time.

In 2002, only Rp 1.38 trillion, while in 2020, it became Rp. 13.05 trillion. This means that there has been a significant increase, up to 10 times since this fund was rolled out. For Papua, the provision of special autonomy funds of this size clearly contributes significantly to regional revenues. At least, with reference to the total amount of the 2019 Papua Regional Expenditure Budget (APBD) of IDR 13.9 trillion, 93 percent is supported by regional revenue obtained from special autonomy funds.

The special autonomy fund support is actually aimed at financing education and health, as well as supporting infrastructure development financing. The management of these funds is a special authority given to the Papua Province to regulate and manage the interests of the local community according to their own initiatives, based on the aspirations and basic rights of the Papuan people.

The Papua Regional Financial and Asset Management Agency (BKAD) website details the allocation of the utilization of the special autonomy fund. Among these, there are budget items for programs that are mutually agreed upon between the province and the district.

Last year, as much as a third of Papua’s special autonomy funds were allocated to joint programs. Its utilization is used to carry out programs in education, such as providing superior scholarships.

In addition, there are programs to improve public health, housing, religion, and social protection. Apart from the joint program, there are provincial or regional special initiative programs.

The portion, two-thirds of the special autonomy fund. The entire allocation of funds is distributed to the provinces down to the district and city levels. Furthermore, each region uses the funds to run programs that become real generated from the initiatives and needs of local residents.

Later, President Joko Widodo decided to extend the provision of special autonomy funds. However, the President wants a comprehensive evaluation to be carried out. “I ask to see again in detail how it is managed, transparency and accountability. It is very important. The good governance, the distribution, whether it has actually been conveyed to the public, is it right on target, what is the output, when it becomes goods, what goods, “said Jokowi some time ago.