JAYAPURA – The Papua Provincial Government has received an additional IDR77 billion in General Allocation Funds from the central government. The additional funding will help the regional government meet personnel expenditure needs amid the increasing burden on the civil service following regional expansion.

Papua Governor Matius Fakhiri said the additional General Allocation Funds was provided to help cover the shortfall in personnel expenditure. The provincial government will carefully calculate its needs to ensure that employees’ entitlements can continue to be fulfilled through the end of the year.

“The Papua Province was given IDR77 billion, which is an additional General Allocation Fund. It is intended to cover the shortfall in personnel expenditure,” Fakhiri said on Thursday (August 13, 2026).

According to Fakhiri, Papua’s personnel expenditure burden has increased following the establishment of three new provinces. Some civil servants who were previously part of the parent province did not move to the newly established provinces, leaving Papua responsible for their personnel costs.

“Papua Province has an excess of employees. The civil servants in Papua Province did not move to the new provinces, so they have become a personnel expenditure burden for us,” he said.

Fakhiri asked the regional government officials to accurately calculate personnel expenditure requirements. This is necessary to ensure that salaries and other employee entitlements can continue to be paid through the end of the year.

“I have asked the staff to calculate the requirements properly. We must not allow our employees to be unable to receive their salaries at the end of the year,” he said.

Head of the Papua Regional Development Planning, Research and Innovation Agency, Muflih Musaad, confirmed that the additional General Allocation Fund has been prioritized for personnel expenditure. However, the additional funding is still insufficient to fully cover personnel expenditure and other mandatory spending needs of the regional government.

“The General Allocation Funds is prioritized for personnel expenditure. Looking at this additional allocation, it is actually still insufficient,” Muflih said.

Muflih explained that these needs include employee salaries and allowances, as well as mandatory expenditures such as electricity, water, maintenance, and basic public services. Special Autonomy funds continue to help the regional government meet some of the costs of providing basic services in Papua.

“Fortunately, we have Special Autonomy funds, so we can still cover some of the needs. We hope there will be no further budget efficiency measures in 2027,” he said. ***