Papua Needs Assessment - UNDP

4. Governance
As discussed above, there are a wide range of development challenges in Papua from poverty
alleviation to protection of diverse cultures, and safeguarding the environment. Good governance
is therefore necessary to provide a framework by which needs and priorities are balanced and
services are delivered effectively and responsively. To accelerate the pace of development in
Papua, and to increase the opportunity for native Papuans to participate in development, the
Government issued a Law concerning Special Autonomy for Papua Province (Law No.21/2001UU
number 21 - 2001) known as Otonomi Khusus or OTSUS. More than simply providing the region
with a bigger share of the revenues generated in the region, OTSUS also sets out a framework for
acknowledgement and promotion of local cultures and local people’s interests.
4.1 Special autonomy, Papua’s grand strategy and the draft Papua
general development framework
Special Autonomy (OTSUS) is an expression of the agreement between the Indonesian
Government and the people of Papua for the devolution of authority for the development of Papua
from the central government to Papua. It is oriented towards the recognition of the social and
cultural characteristics of the indigenous Papuan communities and provides an opportunity to
address the special needs of the diverse populations of the region, demonstrated by text from the
early articles of the OTSUS:
“That in the context of
minimizing the gap between
Papua Province and other
regions and in order to
improve the living standard of
the Papuan people and to give
the opportunity to the natives
of Papua Province, a special
policy is required within the
flame of the Unitary State of
the Republic of Indonesia”
(Preamable, Law No.21/2001)
“Special Autonomy is a special
authority acknowledged and
granted to Papua Province to
regulate and manage the
interests of the local people
on its own initiative, based on
the aspirations and
fundamental rights of the
people of Papua”
(Article 1, Law No. 21/2001)
The Government of the Papua
Province is obliged to manage
and utilize the living
environment in an integrated
manner with due observance
of the spatial characteristics,
protection of the biological
natural resources,
nonbiological natural
resources, artificial resources,
conservation of the biological
natural resources and the
ecosystem, cultural
preservation, and biological
diversity and climate change,
taking into account the rights
of the adat* community and for
the welfare of the people”
(Article 64. law No. 21/2001))
*adat refers to custom or culture, held by each ethnic group and comprising knowledge, behaviours, rules, laws and
systems for explaining and regulating individual and life in ‘adat communities’.
Operationalising the law requires preparing various levels of local government regulation (Perdasus
and Perdasi) in all the sectors. As yet, this has not been done. There are some stipulations in
the OTSUS law that may conflict with other pre-existing statutory laws. In principle, following the
hierarchy of laws in Indonesia, examined on a case-by-case basis, it should be clear which law
takes precedence. In many cases, the problem appears simply to be that local governments
refer to OTSUS but have not promulgated new regulations that enable its implementation. At the
same time, however, some local government personnel claim there is minimal understanding and
support for what Papua’s OTSUS regulation entails amongst central government actors.
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