The Government is Committed to Accelerating the Development of Papua to Achieve People’s Welfare
The government together with the Steering Committee for the Acceleration of Papua’s Special Autonomy Development (BP3OKP) are committed to immediately accelerating Papua’s development and accommodating various regional strategic programs by conducting outreach and coordination.
Development in the Land of Papua is one form of the Indonesian Government’s attention to regional equality in Indonesia. Papua is one of the targets that is being intensified to immediately carry out the development process. Because, this development will make it easier for the community to advance their regional economy. Apart from that, Papua has great potential to grow into a developed and prosperous region.
Chairman of BP3OKP Papua Albert Yoku said that currently their task is to specifically synchronize, evaluate and coordinate the APBD and development planning that has been carried out by the regional government to then synchronize it with the Special Autonomy Development Acceleration Master Plan (RIPP) for Papua.
Even though Yoku said that his party had met with the Keerom district government (Pemkab) to discuss local regional programs, Yoku’s party did not stop there, they would continue to other areas such as Biak Numfor Regency, Yapen Islands, Waropen, and Mamberamo Raya in 2024.
The aim of the discussion was to see the capabilities of the regions in implementing several of their major programs that exceed the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD).
Discussing how regional strategic programs are carried out, namely something that has been included in the national strategic program so that it is hoped that regional heads will continue to hold meetings with the heads of relevant regional apparatus organizations (OPD), so that later planning will be increasingly synchronized in each strategic program the national.
Keerom Regent Piter Gusbager said that the visit carried out by BP3OKP was a series of the big theme of Special Autonomy (Otsus) volume II, which focused on improving welfare for the people of Bumi Cenderawasih.
Towards the end of the government term in the leadership era of the President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Vice President (Wapres) KH. Ma’ruf Amin, indeed, development in the easternmost province in the country continues to be accelerated.
Not half-hearted, in fact, to be able to confirm the progress of accelerated development, the Vice President directly flew and visited Papua. He has a very strong commitment to being able to complete all his agendas, especially those related to the development of a new autonomous region (DOB) in Papua.
Not just physical or infrastructure development, the government is also trying to boost human resource (HR) development by improving the quality of the indigenous Papuan people. This is done by accelerating the fulfillment of teacher needs, fulfilling academic qualifications and also the competence of educators in Tanah Cenderawasih.
All the things that have been done have also been stated in Minister of Education and Culture Regulation Number 44 of 2023 concerning the Program for Accelerating Meeting Teacher Needs through teacher education in Papua Province. With this policy, it opens up more space for the best services for the community, especially for indigenous Papuan people.
Furthermore, development efforts for community welfare in Bumi Cenderawasih also continue to be encouraged by the existence of land certification for customary land rights. The Vice President emphasized that all levels of ministries and/or related institutions, including regional governments (Pemda) and all stakeholders, can continue to build good cooperation with indigenous communities in Papua. This cooperation is an important thing to do because it will ensure respect for customary rights in various steps to accelerate Papua’s development.
Another great attention given by the Indonesian Government is also reflected in its great support for religious harmony. The government fully supports the construction of the Papua Christian Center (PCC) Building, which is aimed at providing community services through the church.
On the other hand, Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated Siboru Airport in Fakfak, where the construction of this airport is also one of the government’s efforts to further improve development connectivity in the Papua region.
For him, it is very important to have infrastructure development to continue to support economic growth and prosperity of the people in West Papua. As part of the national development agenda, Siboru Fakfas Airport itself really reflects the government’s strong commitment to reducing development gaps between regions in Indonesia, especially in Papua.
There are many strategic programs, whether at the national level or on a regional scale, which continue to be intensified and implemented with full commitment by the government. To be able to overcome the problem of disparities between regions, the government also has a strong commitment to accelerating development in the eastern part of Indonesia, namely Papua.
