Papua in 2018 is no longer the Papua as it used to be known to the Indonesians, and more importantly, international public twenty years ago. As the strongly opinionated Free West Papua movement keeps on having its share of the spotlight, the Indonesian government has made its moves in making Papua a better place. Unfortunately, the progress achieved in Papua is often celebrated more sublimely compared to the rampant campaign ran by the separatist groups.

Papua in 2018 is no longer the Papua as it used to be known to the Indonesians, and more importantly, international public twenty years ago. As the strongly opinionated Free West Papua movement keeps on having its share of the spotlight, insisting for West Papua to have its own West Papua flag, and West Papua song, the Indonesian government has made its moves in making Papua a better place. Unfortunately, the progress achieved in Papua is often celebrated more sublimely compared to the rampant campaign ran by the separatist groups.

In general, the improvements made in Papua fall into three categories, which are economy, democracy, and human rights.

Economic and Infrastructure Development

There is something special regarding President Joko Widodo’s eight-times visit to Papua between 2014 and 2018. Since he was inaugurated in October 2014, he has been the president who visits Papua most frequently. The tours lasted between two and three days each, with the agenda of visiting construction sites, handing over land certificates, issuing public health and education insurance cards, and monitoring every time disease outbreak happens.

As a direct result of the amount of attention paid for Papua, the development of the two provinces in Papua becomes more accurately targeted. One of those milestones of development is the improvement of connectivity in terms of transportation.

The administration of President Joko Widodo from 2015 to 2019 has a focus on finishing the Trans Papua road. In addition to building the main road, the district and city roads will also be connected to the main road. The construction of this road is expected to open isolated areas immediately. Right now, Trans Papua roads in West Papua Province has been built entirely, which is 1,071 km long. The government's target is to complete all of the remaining uncovered Trans Papua, which is 1,066 km long, by the end of 2019.

Not only Trans Papua roads, but the government also made a valiant effort in ensuring the sustainability of the economy in Papua, by opening access to valuable industries and its assets.

On July 12th, 2017, Indonesia, via PT Indonesia Asahan Alumina (INALUM), officially acquired 51% of Freeport’s shares. Previously, the Indonesian government was possessing only 9.36%. On January 12th, 2018, 10% of the Indonesian government’s stocks were handed over to the government of West Papua, via PT Papua Divestasi Mandiri. From the shares owned by PT Papua Divestasi Mandiri, 3% is owned by the West Papuan provincial government, while 7% went to the district government of Mimika.

All this time, Papua and West Papua are only known a few of the least, if not the least developed provinces in Indonesia. Little did the world know that the Indonesian government is running a comprehensive sustainable development program called “The Green Economic Growth program for Papua Provinces.”

In 2015, West Papua declared itself the world’s first “conservation province,” with a mandate to prioritize conservation in all decisions of economic development. The move came on the heels of a 2014 national law that reversed some aspects of decentralization by partly transferring governance of Indonesia’s natural resources from the local level back up to the provincial level.

The concept of green economy development in Papua is based on the five customary territories to find out the potency of each region, including mining, agriculture, plantations, and livestock. The program is relatively new in its introduction to the public, but it was started a year ago in October 2017. That year, a program called “Green Economic Growth” was commenced, and it contained five specific sub-programs:

1. Market Systems Analysis
2. Socio-economic Planning and Gender Analysis
3. Farming Methods and Production Systems
4. Credit, Finance and Small Business Development
5. Business Incubator and Investor Engagement

West Papua news cited another remarkable milestone that is largely underappreciated is the achievement in bringing better healthcare for Papuans.

What most of Indonesians did not see, and the separatists did not admit, is the massive success of the Indonesian government’s EDAT program, which stands for Early Diagnosis and Treatment. It is an elaborate program intended for residents, and it has drastically reduced cases of malaria from 9.2 percent of the population (2009) to 0.02 percent of the population (2015), more than 98% of cases in total. The continuation of the program for the last three years will consequently bring down the number of malaria cases to a negligible level.

In another public health issue, the Papuan communal culture is proven to be useful during the government’s crusade in eliminating Measles-Rubella. West Papua has made itself the Indonesian province with the highest percentage of the population accepting the MR vaccine, scoring 98 percent. The number surpasses Indonesia’s national target of 95 percent population penetration.

Democracy

In the sector of democracy and a better political climate, Papua has been more dynamic in a  democratic society than ever. Despite the infrastructures which are still being improved, the freedom of speech and representation of Papuan aspirations are in its best so far.

In 2001, Provinces of Papua and West Papua were ranked 14th and 15th among 32 provinces in Indonesia, in terms of NGO presence. Back then, in 2001, there were only 14 NGOs in Papua and West Papua combined, out of 444 total NGOs in Indonesia.

Only in about four years, in 2005, the number rocketed to 68 NGOs, bringing Papua and West Papua to the top of the list. In comparison, Jakarta, as the capital city, had 46. The number continues to increase, yet it has become harder for the government to keep an accurate tally these days. The presence of international civil society in Papua and West Papua is strong.

Papua and West Papua also had the highest turnover during legislative elections. 84% of eligible voters cast their votes in the 2018 election. Enthusiasm for parliament has always been high for the last couple terms, and also proportionally competitive between candidates.

Freedom of expression in the media, as well as the flow of foreign journalism, has also improved.

The issue of journalistic freedom has often been used by separatist groups to seek international attention. In May 2015, President Jokowi announced that foreign journalists were free to visit West Papua. In 2013, there were 354 journalist visas to Indonesia, 28 of which were to Papua and West Papua while in 2015, all journalists' applications were accepted. However, it was found that the trend of journalism in Papua and West Papua is still overwhelmingly focused on negative and sensational wordings.

During 2017, there are 3,449 articles from foreign media published on the internet. The top three contributors are Associated Press (US-based non-profit news platform), Radio New Zealand, and Netscape (headquarters in Virginia, US). From those three platforms, there are negative trending themes such as “Indonesian security forces,” “gunmen,” “national liberation,” “attack,” and “death.”

There is a need for us to shift from “War Journalism,” which is violence-oriented, elite-oriented, propaganda-oriented, and victory-oriented, towards “peace journalism,” which is conflict-oriented, people-oriented, truth-oriented, and solution-oriented. With that in mind, conflicts will be moving closer and closer in the direction of resolutions.

Resolving Human Rights Cases

In efforts to resolve the past human rights cases in Abepura (2000), Wamena-Wasior (2001, 2003), and Paniai (2014), the current government administration has formed an ad hoc committee in may 2015 to ensure the continuity of these cases, all the way to a proper trial for each case. National Commission on Human Rights has proceeded to bring the evidence and results of investigations cases to trials.

What the mainstream media have failed to highlight is the aggregate increment in quality of life, especially the peace of mind among ordinary Papuans, who do not associate themselves with any part of the separatist movements. Media have