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Residents gather near burning motorbikes following a riot in Waena, Jayapura, in June. Angry Papuan residents burned shops and vehicles after a police raid killed an independence activist. (EPA Photo)

Mimika, Papua.  A senior member of the Mimika Legislative Council called on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate the “rampant” corruption present in Papua, claiming that fraudulence has contributed to the growing separatist sentiment of Indonesia’s easternmost province.

“People are frustrated seeing corrupters walk free in Papua,” Athanasius Allo Rafra, the head of the council’s Commission A, said on Saturday.

He added that corrupt officials have siphoned much of the regional budget fund into their own pockets, leaving little money over to help bolster the region’s economy.

Unchecked corruption has contributed to the growing calls for an independent Papua, an area that has long been a center of conflict for Indonesia, he said.

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