By :SabbyKosay
The government under the direction of President Jokowi has initiated the birth of Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2020. With this legal product, development in Papua can continue to be optimized in order to improve people’s welfare.
Papua and West Papua are the 2 easternmost provinces that are often marginalized, this can be seen from the low HDI rate and the difference in the price of basic commodities between Papua and Java. If this is the case, what has the government done to develop Papua?
It can be said that the attention of the government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) towards the people of Papua and West Papua has been relatively high. This of course shows that President Jokowi wants equitable development in Indonesia.
This is evidenced by the development of road infrastructure and the unification of fuel prices in Papua with the same as in Java. The local governments of Papua and West Papua also need to work hard to develop these areas.
Although there is still negative news and problems in Papua, the Central Government is considered to be giving positive attention to the Earth of Cenderawasih. So that the Jokowi era government is considered to bring hope and progress in Papua.
One of the Papuan youth leaders Izak R Hikoyabi confirmed this, he considered that there were several things in the change of Papuan society.
The breadth of managing the budget for the Papuan government is the existence of a special autonomy fund for Papua from the beginning until 2020 worth IDR 126.99 trillion. Although there needs to be a thorough evaluation of the large budget.
He revealed that the president’s 2nd term was considered effective by taking a dialogue approach to unravel problems and formulate alternative solutions. He added that it is no less important to continue to carry out previous policies such as President SBY, which prioritized the welfare approach rather than the security approach.
According to him, national integration and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia are fixed at a fixed price, are the foundations that are built on welfare, justice above the legal order that respects the socio-cultural context.
Izak assessed that a number of strategic steps taken by the central government had brought changes to Papua such as infrastructure, education, social, economic and others.
A 2018 study by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and The Asia Foundation showed that the construction of the road network has improved the socio-economic life of the community.
The improvement in economic life occurs because with the existence of road infrastructure, the Papuan people can sell merchandise outside the region in greater quantities than before.
That is, improving connectivity is also able to improve the quality of social life, this is because people can visit each other more often.
Moreover, in 2015 – 2019, the open unemployment rate in Papua and West Papua decreased from 3.99% to 3.65% for Papua, while West Papua also experienced the same thing with a decrease in the open unemployment rate, from 8.08% to 6.24% for West Papua.
One of the developments that has become a New icon is the construction of the Youtefa bridge in Jayapura, this bridge is also a landmark of collaborative activities between levels of government through funding cooperation involving the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget, State Sharia Securities, Provincial Revenue and Expenditure Budget and Revenue Budget. and District Expenditures.
The 433-meter-long bridge was inaugurated by President Jokowi on October 28, 2019 and is expected to increase accessibility from the city of Jayapura to the border area in the Muara Tami District by cutting the travel time from 2 hours to only 30 minutes.
Road construction is President Jokowi’s policy to improve the welfare of indigenous Papuans, then catch up by opening access from one area to another.
The bridge is of course expected to have an impact on tourist attractions and supporting facilities for the implementation of the XX PON which will take place this year in Papua.
In particular, President Jokowi has also issued presidential regulation (Perpres) Number 17 of 2019 concerning the procurement of goods and services in the context of accelerating welfare development in Papua and West Papua which encourages the alignment of ministries/agencies and local governments in increasing the capacity of Papuan business actors.
The government’s performance in developing Papua cannot be said to be perfect, but the benefits of accelerated infrastructure development are clearly starting to be felt, the Papuan people have access to sell agricultural products, so there is a circulation of money which is one of the multiplayer effects thanks to the development in Papua.
(The author is a Papuan student living in Yogyakarta)
