By: Franky *)
Mr. Jokowi’s visit to Papua and West Papua is expected as a fresh air for the people of Papua, which has not been met directly with the President yet. Mr. Jokowi presence in Papua have shown his attention to the easternmost province of the Indonesian territory. A new hope arise in the hearts of indigenous Papuans that the visit will give a better change to Papua.
Mr. Jokowi’s visit that have taken place since 26-29 December 2014 in Jayapura, Wamena and Sorong gets a warm welcome from all the people of Papua and West Papua. Mr. Jokowi even willing to have “face-to-face” meeting directly with the people. Not only that, Mr. President also doesn’t mind to take some pictures along with the people that he meet along the visit. For the people of Papua, that thing is such a rare moment that couldn’t happen everyday.
Through the visit, Mr. President got a lot of advice and suggest from local government, Jokowi’s volunteer and the people of Papua regarding to appropriate development programs that can be implemented Papua. One of them is the plan that will build the infrastructure of railway in Papua. The plan has become one of the Mr. Jokowi’s priorities plan in order to create modern infrastructure in Papua. Mr. Jokowi states that he has ordered the Minister of Transportation Ignasius Jonan to conduct a study about the construction of the railway infrastructure in Papua immediately. This plan of course will bring enormous impact of changes to the people of Papua who still rely on air transportation as the primary means of transportation. If the program succeed, it certainly will improve the economy in Papua that will lead to a better prosperity to the whole people of Papua.
Mr. Jokowi also had arranging several special program to give Papua a better future. Such of those program the development of “Pasar Khusus Mama Papua” and “Sea Toll” program. Not only that, Mr. Jokowi is also willing to have a dialogue with separatist group in Papua in order to create a better Papua. As conclusion, we can say that Mr. Jokowi’s visit in Papua becomes a promise and hope that Papua will have a brighter future.
*) The Author Is Papua Regional Contributor