JAYAPURA — The disbursement of the first phase of Papua’s Special Autonomy Fund for 2025 has not yet been realized as of the end of April. This delay raises concerns that the implementation of several strategic local government programs, which rely heavily on the fund, may be hampered.

Acting Head of the Papua Regional Financial and Asset Management Agency, Alex Kapisa, stated that as of late April, the funds had not been released, despite the regulations outlined in Regulation of the Minister of Finance No. 33 of 2024.

“As of today, the central government has not disbursed the Special Autonomy Fund, even though the first phase was scheduled to be released this month,” Alex said in Jayapura over the weekend.

He explained that the Special Autonomy Fund for this year is scheduled to be disbursed in three phases: April, July, and October. However, as of now, there has been no realization of the first phase, even though all required documents have been submitted.

According to Alex, the delay is affecting the implementation of several public service programs whose budgets depend heavily on the Special Autonomy Fund. “We hope the disbursement can happen within this week,” he said.

The Papua Provincial Government, Alex continued, has submitted a disbursement request to the Ministry of Finance. The request was submitted only for the provincial level, while regencies and municipalities have been asked to manage their own submissions.

This year, Papua was initially scheduled to receive Rp900 billion in the Special Autonomy Fund. However, there has been a reduction of approximately IDR 19 billion by the central government as part of budget rationalization.

“Now the remaining amount is just over IDR 800 billion. The disbursement process is critical because it directly affects the continuity of essential services in Papua,” Alex said. ***