Soetran (5 April 1921 – 1 July 1987) was an Indonesian military officer and politician who served as the Regent of Trenggalek from 1968 until 1975 and as the Governor of Irian Jaya from 1975 to 1981.

[1] Due to his father's blindness, Soetran dropped out of elementary school in the 4th grade and began to work at various jobs, such as a farmer, entertainer, and a ludruk performer.

[1][2] In 1980, at the end of his term as the Governor of Irian Jaya, Soetran was promoted from colonel to brigadier general.

[7] Donald K. Emmerson, a political professor, credited Trenggalek's development under Soetran on his self-styled "commando" approach.

According to Emmerson, Soetran assumed full responsibility on the development process in the region and ran the government as an extension of himself.

Soetran attempted to improve this problem by initiating the Tembokisasi program which aimed at remodeling Trenggalek's cityscape.

[10] Soetran's reforestation policy managed to kept the region safe from prolonged droughts and provide additional exports.

[11] In 1971, under the pretext of embellishing the stereotype of the region, Soetran proposed to change the name of Trenggalek to Trenggalih.

According to Soetran, words which end with -ek in Javanese usually has a bad connotation (e.g. jelek/elek (ugly), kemenyek (smart ass), tekek (deaf), etc.).

[13] Most of Trenggalek's officials opposed Soetran's plan, citing the administrative and bureaucratic process that would occur after the change.

[9] The team managed to found out and document the beginnings of Trenggalek and its first appearance ten years later but refused to change the name of the regency.

[15] The award was given in the form of a flag by President Suharto to East Java Governor Mohammad Noer in a ceremony on 21 August 1974 at the Tambaksari Stadium.

[18] Soetran was inaugurated as the acting governor of Irian Jaya on 31 April 1975, replacing Acub Zainal.

On 20 May 1975, Soetran declared the Obligatory Clove Cultivation (Wajib Tanam Cengkeh, WTC) program.

Aside from the populace's small scale cultivation, Soetran oversaw the development of clove plantations managed by the regency and province government.

Another reason for the failure was Soetran's violation of the Agriculture Minister's instruction, which states that clove seeds could only be exported from four locations: Selokaton, Branggah Banaran, Bogor, and Maluku.

[25] Following Soetran's resignation from the office, his successor, Busiri Suryowinoto, questioned his policy on clove cultivation.

President Suharto responded to the radiograms by instructing governmental bodies to form a task force to handle the disaster.

On 3 July, the government of Papua New Guinea assisted the search and rescue process by donating a Cessna aircraft.

UNDRO estimated that the government spends at least ten thousand dollars each month on airdropping food supply to the survivors.

[37] Following his appointment as vice governor, Paprindey began a conflict relating to the development process in Irian Jaya.

[38] In an interview with Tempo reporter Widi Yarmanto, Soetran denied any disagreement or conflict between him and Paprindey, and stated that "[our] working relationship is good".

[42] Beginning in June 1987, Soetran undertook medical treatment for his liver cancer in Darmo Hospital, Surabaya.

[43] He was buried two days after his death at the Dukuh Kupang Heroes' Cemetery in a military ceremony led by the Governor of East Java Wahono.