Manokwari, Jubi – West Papua Provincial Legislative Council Golkar faction leader Amin Ngabalin has urged Governor Dominggus Mandacan to return special autonomy (OTSUS) funding derived from oil and gas revenue sharing to the central government.
Ngabalin said the central government’s decision to cut west Papua’s special autonomy funding from oil and gas revenue sharing reflected fiscal injustice towards resource-producing regions.
“Let’s not beg. If possible, Governor, we should return the special autonomy funds from oil and gas revenue sharing to President Prabowo, as head of the central government in Jakarta,” Ngabalin said in Manokwari on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
He said West Papua had repeatedly faced similar treatment from the central government. During the president’s budget efficiency measures in 2024, the Ministry of Finance cut the province’s special autonomy funding.
“After we made a fuss and pleaded in Jakarta, the special autonomy funds were eventually restored and included as a source of regional revenue in the 2026 revised regional budget,” he said.
Ngabalin said that in the 2026 fiscal year, the Ministry of Finance cut West Papua’s special autonomy funding derived from oil and gas revenue sharing by 82.56 per cent, equivalent to about Rp2.5 trillion to Rp2.6trillion, from a total provincial budget of Rp4.965 trillion.
He said approximately Rp1.8 trillion, or 37.62 per cent of the total budget, was transferred to the seven regencies in West Papua province. The remaining Rp3.16 trilion was managed by the provincial government.
Ngabalin warned that if the 2026 budget assumptions were used to project the province’s budget for next year, West Papua’s 2027 provincial budget could fall to between Rp500 billion and Rp550 billion.
“This is the result of cuts to special autonomy funding from oil and gas revenue sharing. Rather than begging for something that is rightfully ours, the President and the finance minister should simply stop allocating these special autonomy funds to West Papua,” he said.
Ngabalin said date for the first half of 2026 showed that gas production in West Papua reached 268.21 million MMBTU, accounting for 27.27 per cent of national gas production, according to the figures he cited.
“The central government should not leave future generations in West Papua with nothing but tears from the resources being extracted, while failing to understand the region’s fiscal difficulties,” he said. (*)
