By: Timothy Gobay) *
Papua is an inseparable part of Indonesia. The government continues to intensify development in Papua as a form of the presence of the state in society.
The government continues to strive for development in all sectors in Papua. Wawan Hari P. As Deputy of Kominfo, State Intelligence Agency (BIN), explained that so far development in Papua is still on the track, through accelerating development in the economic, education and infrastructure sectors.
This is intended so that Papua and West Papua will soon become developed areas and are on par with other provinces.
On the occasion of the Webinar entitled Measuring the Future of Papua, Wawan emphasized that Papua needs acceleration, so that the government will work on accelerating development holistically towards social justice in the land of Papua. Of course, his party wants basic services there to be better and able to develop the local economy.
He also acknowledged that his party always encourages the acceleration of development in Papua. He also frequently visits Bappenas to prioritize development programs in Papua.
Wawan assessed that the important thing from development in Papua is the development of human resources for indigenous Papuans (OAP). According to him, now the ability and creativity of Papuans in developing the economy is very advanced.
One proof of this is the existence of integrated areas in Sorong, Bintuni Bay and Raja Ampat which have become famous destinations in the world of international tourism. According to Wawan, this can be realized thanks to the continuous development of human resources in Papua and making Papua no longer an underdeveloped region.
Meanwhile, the rapid development in Papua was also acknowledged by a senior Pamong Papua, Michael Menufandu. Development in Papua has started since the era of President Soeharto in 1973 through the Inpres program by building elementary schools (SD) and puskesmas and other basic services.
On a different occasion, the Head of the Center for Performance Analysis of the National Development Planning Agency, Velix Wainggai, said that there are several very important major infrastructure projects being developed in Papua. One of them is in the tourist area of Raja Ampat. In this place, the government will expand Waisai Airport, which will become one of the priorities in the next 4-5 years.
One of the Papuan leaders, Izak, Randi Hikoyabi, said that since the massive construction of infrastructure, all access has become easy. Various sectors have felt the impact of infrastructure development.
Izak believes that population growth requires a lot of access to support. Good access to support can have an impact on economy, social, culture and others. Now, with the connection of access roads, bridges, electricity and so on, people feel a lot of convenience.
Public Policy Observer Imron Cotan sees something extraordinary about the massive infrastructure development in Papua. Distribution and marketing of goods and produce can be faster.
He also explained the condition of Papua in the past few decades. In the past, the price of fuel was expensive, now the price of fuel in Papua is already the same as the fuel in Java. Medan, which was initially only accessible by air, can now be accessed by increasingly longer roads.
He said, since the trans-West Papua road was built in 2018, now its length has reached 1,071 km. All of them are connected. Meanwhile, Trans Papua, which has been asphalt along the 743 km. The rest is still aggregate or soil pavement.
The Trans Papua Barat road is divided into two segments, namely, segment I Sorong-Maybrat-Manokwari (595 km) which connects two economic centers in West Papua, namely the cities of Sorong and Manokwari, which can now be reached within 14 hours.
Central government support for the accelerated development of Papua is also realized with the existence of a Presidential Instruction contained in Presidential Instruction Number 9 of 2020 concerning Accelerated Development of Welfare in Papua and West Papua Provinces.
The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, has instructed a governance approach supported by an Electronic-Based Government (PSBE) system and data and information-based policies. The Papuan development approach must be based on a social, cultural, customary territory and ecological zone perspective.
The Presidential Instruction states that financing is borne by the APBN and APBD along with other sources of financing that are not binding in accordance with the provisions of the regulations in effect on 29 September 2020.
Papua is part of the Republic of Indonesia that must be maintained, accelerated development in the easternmost region must be pursued so that Papua has competitiveness with other parts of Indonesia.
) * The author is a Papuan student living in Lampung