Jakarta – The government has reaffirmed its commitment to accelerating comprehensive development in Papua to promote equitable progress across all sectors. This commitment was conveyed by President Prabowo Subianto during a briefing with regional leaders from across Papua and the Executive Committee for the Acceleration of Papua’s Special Autonomy Development at the State Palace in Jakarta. In the meeting, the President emphasized that Papua requires integrated acceleration measures so that development gaps can be quickly addressed and public welfare can improve in a tangible way.
President Prabowo stated that the acceleration of Papua’s development must be carried out across all fields without exception. “Specifically for Papua, we must accelerate development in Papua in all sectors,” the President said. According to him, a comprehensive development approach is key to ensuring that the benefits of development are not concentrated in certain areas only, but are felt all the way down to villages and remote regions.
In his remarks, the President also placed food security as a fundamental pillar of Papua’s development. He stressed that a nation’s and region’s ability to guarantee food availability for its people forms the basis of life, civilization, and national resilience. “Our ability to ensure food for the people is the foundation of life and national resilience,” the President said. Therefore, food self-sufficiency is viewed as a crucial foundation for Papua’s future development transformation.
President Prabowo emphasized that efforts to achieve food security must not stop at the national level, but must be implemented down to the regional level. “For us to be food secure, we must achieve food self-sufficiency, and this must apply not only nationally, but also at the provincial level, and even down to the regency level if necessary,” he said. In this way, Papua is expected to strengthen sustainable local food production and reduce dependence on supplies from outside the region.
To accelerate the realization of development, the government has established the Executive Committee for the Acceleration of Papua’s Special Autonomy Development. The President explained that the formation of this committee aims to assist governors and regents so that development implementation can proceed more quickly and effectively. “This committee was formed to assist regional leaders so that available budgets can be swiftly realized for the benefit of the people,” he said.
In addition, the President outlined several priority programs of the central government that continue to be implemented in Papua. The Free Nutritious Meals Program has begun and is targeted to reach remote areas. “This program is already running in Papua and we will complete it all the way to areas that are difficult to reach,” the President said. The government also aims to ensure that people’s schools are accessible down to the regency level as part of efforts to equalize access to education.
In the economic and infrastructure sectors, the development of fishermen’s villages, strengthening food security, the development of food estate areas, and the completion of the Trans-Papua Road are major priorities. The President stressed the importance of road infrastructure in overcoming regional isolation. “The Trans-Papua Road must be completed so that access to all parts of Papua improves and logistics costs can be reduced,” he said.
Through planned and sustainable accelerated development, the government hopes that Papua can progress on par with other regions in Indonesia, while also becoming a symbol of successful, fair, and equitable development for all Indonesians.