Preserving Papuans’ Hopes

KOMPAS/FABIO M LOPES COSTA

A section of the Trans Papua Road that connects Wamena to Habema along 52 kilometers in Jayawijaya Regency, Papua, Thursday (4/5/2017).

The Papuan expedition, which was conducted by Kompas and presented in the publication in more than 80 news articles since early this year, has provided the readers with a fairly all-round picture of what is happening in the country’s easternmost regions. In addition to showing the appealing natural landscape, the expedition’s reports highlight various problems faced by the Papuan people, ranging from deforestation, environmental degradation, mining exploitation, lagging education, inequitable health services, poor conservation and cultural threats.

People’s complaints have been recorded. They berate lost hunting areas blamed on corporate activities next to their customary forests, land conflicts and fast-dwindling fish catches because the river is polluted with company tailings, which has forced them to set out to sea for fish. The reports have documented rife conflicts between indigenous peoples and companies.

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The food consumption habit of the Papuan people has largely shifted from sago and sweet potatoes to rice and packaged instant noodles. Prioritizing the delivery of rice rather than empowering local and traditional food has evoked an imprudently executed food-security policy. It has led the communities to create rice fields in the area. However, the conversion of livelihood resources has rarely yielded results because Papuan soil is different from that in Java.

Water disasters that never existed before are now lurking in the shadows.

The newly constructed trans-Papua that rolls across the forested interior of the land has also brought about negative impacts. Apart from facilitating people’s mobility from one town or city to another, the trans-Papua is perceived to have hastened forest destruction. As a result, several cities are now prone to floods, because the forests that used to provide water catchment are no longer there. Water disasters that never existed before are now lurking in the shadows.

In the narration of potentially tapped tourist attractions, a sad story that cannot be overlooked is about the Youtefa Bay in Jayapura being polluted with plastic waste. The encouraging news is that there are many new tourist attractions that are quite promising.

KOMPAS/CORNELIUS HELMY HERLAMBANG

Women in the Arfak Mountains Regency, West Papua, show how to make noken, Saturday (23/2/2019).

Fifteen years ago, Kompas (2007) undertook the same expedition. Comparing the reports of the two expeditions, we learn there has been no significant improvement in terms of the people's welfare related to basic services, such as education and health. Indeed, the reports on the most recent expedition remain to spark hope, but we may feel somewhat desperate about how long we can hold on to our hopes.

The problems in Papua are very complex. Many in the region are still marginalized and there is an impression that the efforts to find solutions to the problems have been done half-heartedly. The enforced special-autonomy policy that has absorbed plentiful financial resources is expected to be a panacea for the problems.

The regional-administration proliferation plan has been drawn up in the hopes that it can become an impetus to solving the problems.

The regional-administration proliferation plan has been drawn up in the hopes that it can become an impetus to solving the problems.

Security issues persist to complicate the problems in Papua. Without good planning, the outcome can stray from the target. Corruption is imminent, but there seem no serious measures to tackle it. The regional-administration proliferation plan has been drawn up in the hopes that it can become an impetus to solving the problems.

The complexities of Papua’s problems have become the topic of the discussion in the Kompas Ombudsman forum. It is realized that Papua, for all the complex problems it has, is often looked at through a centralization perspective, as revealed in the substance of the coverage of some cases. In fact, Papua is struggling due to problems that are unique to Papuans themselves. That is why various anthropological perspectives are relevant in understanding the problems in Papua regarding kinship, leadership and suffering (memoria passionis, JB Metz and the postcolonial studies of Achilles Mbembe).

KOMPAS

A tree house of the Korowai tribe in Boven Digul, Papua.

One of the core problems in Papua, in my opinion, is that the community is still deprived of participation in the discourses on their future, including the land where they live. I once heard a native Papuan complaining: "People love the land of Papua, but they don't love the Papuans". It’s sad to hear such a complaint. And that is true. The land of Papua has become the target of exploitation for its forests, timber, natural wealth and mines, but the people are still marginalized on their own land.

It may result in promises about public welfare coming short of fulfillment.

In terms of the regional administration proliferation plans, there have been many studies on regional autonomy. A number of studies state that regional proliferation only benefits local elites, with financial resources to be absorbed in the formation of new bureaucracy much greater than in the allocation for development. It may result in promises about public welfare coming short of fulfillment.

The tasks for Kompas (as well as other media) are to continue to monitor the situation in Papua while hoping that our news coverage will contribute to encouraging greater attention to non-security issues. When the plan for the administrative expansion in Papua will be tweaked further, the policy makers must ensure that the Papuan people’s voices are heeded. Ignoring a dialogue with the Papuan people, we are worried that the future of Papua will be what it now is, if not worse.

KOMPAS/EDDY HASBY

Ignatius Haryanto,

Ignatius Haryanto, Kompas Ombudsman

(This article was translated by Musthofid)