Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post
Dozens of Cendrawasih University students staged a mass rally to protest the Papua autonomy plus draft currently being considered by the provincial administration. The students argued that the draft didn't take into account the interests of the people.
“The draft accommodates only the interests of the elite. The people have been left out of the deliberations, therefore we demand they be halted,” rally coordinator Alfa Rohromana said on Tuesday.
Commenting on the draft, Rev. Benny Giay from the Kingmi Kemah Injili Church, who was also on site, said none of the government’s initiatives on Papua had sought to include the public in the dialogue process.
“The government is busy forming this and that but none of the commissions hold a proper dialogue with the Papuan people,” he said.
The Papua Province administration is currently considering the Papua autonomy plus draft in an attempt to improve the Papua Autonomy Law No. 21/2001. The administration claimed that the autonomy plus draft would allow the local administrations to receive bigger incentives from resources management.