By : Norri Margareth )*
The unemployment rate in Papua, especially the City of Jayapura, has proven to have succeeded in falling very significantly. This turned out to be due to the government’s efforts to continue to focus on development in Papua, namely by dividing the region through the existence of the Papua New Guinea.
In fact, the efforts that have been carried out and intensified by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, especially during the leadership of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) by focusing on development on Cenderawasih Earth, have yielded very significant results and can be felt directly by the local community.
Regarding the results of the Indonesian Government’s efforts, the Jayapura City Manpower Service (Disnaker) stated that the unemployment rate in that area had even been successfully suppressed and continued to decrease, from the previous figure of more than 10,000 unemployed there, but now this can be reduced to only about 5 thousand.
Not without reason the success of the emphasis on the unemployment rate that occurs in these communities. The reason for this is due to the division of 3 (three) provinces through the New Autonomous Region (DOB) in Papua Province.
Then the link between the development of the Papua New Guinea and the success in reducing the unemployment rate for people in Cenderawasih Earth is due to the fact that after the addition of 3 (three) new provinces in the easternmost province in Indonesia, the Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) technically also immediately carried out a lot of various kinds of coaching to creative economy actors in the region.
Regarding the role of OPD in welcoming the division of regions through the Papua New Guinea which was intensified by the Indonesian Government, the Head of the Jayapura City Manpower Office, Djoni Naa also added that apparently the division of 3 (three) new autonomous regions in Bumi Cenderawasih also had an effect on the increasing number of job seekers in Jayapura City.
As a comparison, the data shows that in 2022 alone the number of job seekers in Jayapura City will only reach around 11 thousand people, but this number has immediately decreased quite significantly due to the hard work of the Government of Indonesia in carrying out equitable development in the Land of Papua through the New Autonomous Region, so that in June 2023, the number of job seekers in Jayapura City managed to drop to only around 5,530 people.
So, it can also be said that the reduced number of people looking for work in Jayapura means that, in other words, Papua is currently capable of providing a lot of job opportunities that are continuously open very wide for all people in the country, especially for the people of Indonesia. indigenous Papuans (OAP) themselves.
Then, in the future, there will be a development program in the next 5 (five) years, which will make Jayapura City a trading city and also a guard city. So, with the execution of this program, in the future all activities carried out by technical Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD) will continue to focus their orientation on the trade sector.
When OPD parties have increasingly focused their orientation on the trade sector, it is also hoped that in the future all parties, especially from the Regional Apparatus Organizations, can jointly contribute to making training with the main objective of reducing unemployment.
In fact, it is hoped that the OPD will not only be limited to pursuing as if so that their program can be carried out and completed, but the implementation of the entire program so that it can truly be filled with a sense of responsibility to continue to foster and guide so that all people on Earth of Cenderawasih can success.
For the indigenous Papuan people (OAP) themselves, who may currently have small and medium businesses, so that these businesses can be maintained. In fact, if possible, it should not only be maintained, but also continue to develop the business.
The central government itself even to this day continues and is pushing for the acceleration of development in Papua through regional expansion or new autonomous regions. This aims to be able to bring the availability of public services closer to the whole community, so that in the future the welfare of the community can be realized as expected.
The advantage with the formation of the new autonomous region itself is that it is clear that all government services to the community will be even closer. In fact, all of these services will be able to reach villages to districts which have been difficult to reach for decades.
The role of regional expansion in Papua Province, namely the New Autonomous Region (DOB) has proven to have brought many benefits to all people in Cenderawasih Earth. One of them is the success of the government program in reducing unemployment in Jayapura.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Kupang