Papua Officials Seek BRR Development Aid

The Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari, January 29, 2009 

Authorities in Papua Province hope to learn how to develop the vast province by taking cues from the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, or BRR, which has earned praise for its transparent management and procurement system, officials said on Wednesday. 

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, BRR chairman, said Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu had expressed interest in learning about the methods the BRR used to rebuild Aceh after the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, and the province’s western coastline were devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004. 

“We are ready to help Papua and other disaster-prone parts of Indonesia,” Kuntoro told a panel discussion hosted by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club. 

Agus Sumule, an adviser to the Papua governor who is in charge of regional development, said in a telephone interview from Jayapura that the province was particularly interested in learning how to build and manage infrastructure. 

“We’d like to finish projects on time, with no corruption in the process,” Agus said. 

Papua is one of the country’s most corrupt provinces, according to Indonesian Corruption Watch. Danang Widoyoko, vice coordinator of the watchdog, said weak supervision of local governments was a key problem in Papua. “Good governance in Papua can only be achieved by strengthening law enforcement,” Danang said. 

Agus said eight officials from Papua would work out of BRR’s office in Aceh for two weeks to learn about how to manage development projects. 

On Dec. 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra Island triggered giant waves that washed away entire villages in Aceh, killing more than 170,000 people and leaving millions more homeless. 

Three months later, an 8.6-magnitude earthquake struck the region, killing more than 1,000 people on Nias Island and destroying tens of thousands of homes. 

BRR began work in 2005 and has since rebuilt 90 percent of the homes, roads and public facilities that were destroyed. The agency, which has been praised for its work, will see its mandate expire in April. 

William Sabandar, head of BRR’s Nias chapter, said an agency team visited Papua earlier this month to run training sessions for local government officials. 

“They’re mainly interested in how to put budgets into action,” he said, adding that BRR would assist the province with governance issues, help it plan major infrastructure projects and provide guidance on a special program designed to strategically develop remote areas by granting villages Rp 100 million ($8,800) a year. 

“BRR is offering technical support for [the village program] by setting up a control mechanisms to oversee those funds,” Sabandar said. “There should be an anticorruption division within the initiative.” 

BRR also plans to share computer software it used to plan projects and ensure fiscal accountability. The agency uses online database software that has allowed the public to track its progress with reconstruction efforts in detail. 

Danang said that due to a lack of infrastructure, Papuans and even the media were not well-informed about the province’s leaders. “A district head can buy an airplane without people noticing,” he said. “But in some parts of Java, people become suspicious the second a district chief buys a new car.” 

Law enforcement agencies in Papua, Danang said, are too focused on the separatist movement there to notice corruption. Papua was granted special autonomy by the central government in 2001 as part of efforts to curb separatist unrest, but widespread corruption has hindered development, further fueling separatist sentiment. 

Heru Prasetyo, BRR’s director of donor and international relations, said any reform program in Papua would be done gradually. “It will take time, especially in more remote parts of Papua.” 

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