By: Sabby Kosay) *
After the riots in Papua and West Papua, President Jokowi invited representatives of Papuan leaders to the State Palace. The meeting took place warmly and contained dialogical communication between President Jokowi and representatives of the Papuan people. Both parties also agreed to continue to improve the welfare of the people in Papua.
President Jokowi and representatives of the Papuan people met at the State Palace on 10 September 2019. Many complaints and requests were conveyed by figures and students to Jokowi. One of them is the request for the expansion of 5 regions in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
The request also received a hammer knock from Jokowi as a sign of agreeing to a proposal from a Papuan figure related to the division of territory in Papua Province. He also approved 2 or 3 of the 5 regions proposed by Papuan leaders. This was said by Jokowi when responding to the aspirations of Papuan leaders during a meeting at the State Palace. Even so, the former Mayor of Surakarta said that the regional expansion proposed by Papuan leaders needed to be studied first. Because the division of territory is regulated in legislation.
West Papua Governor Dominggus Mandacan said he supported the burning of Southwest Papua and West Papua Regency / City. Even so the proposed expansion has not been realized because there is a moratorium that is not yet known when it will be revoked. He said, from the meeting, there was already fresh air from President Jokowi, he supported it because it was the people’s aspirations.
In addition to the issue of regional division in Papua, President Jokowi also responded to a number of other aspirations. Among them is the completion of the East Palapa Ring Package project which will be completed this year so that the quality of connectivity and information networks in Papua will be much better.
With the Palapa Ring, this year all Papua land will get 4G signal access. President Jokowi also supported the construction of Indonesian boarding houses in each study area so that students from various parts of the archipelago could mingle and recognize one another. The President also fully supports the proposals of Papuan leaders to form institutions for Papuan children and women.
Jokowi also approved the request of Papuan leaders to build the Palace. Presidency in Papua. Before deciding this, he was confused. He also looked to the right and left of the ministers beside him. The father of Kaesang Pangarep said that the Presidential Palace in Papua will begin construction next year.
But according to him, building a palace is not easy, because it requires extensive land. But the issue is guaranteed. Because the Papua Party has prepared 10 hectares of land for free. It is known, Abisai Rollo who is the chairman of the Jayapura City DPRD, will donate 10 hectares of his land to build a Presidential palace on Cenderawasih Earth. This was also agreed by President Joko Widodo.
Abisai begged respectfully to build a Presidential palace in Papua. So the hope is that Jokowi will become the first President to have an office in the Presidential Palace in Papua. The discourse on the construction of the State Palace in Papua, received appreciation from the Speaker of the House, Bambang Soesatyo, he appreciated Jokowi’s step as a step to resolve the conflict in Papua. Jokowi’s approach is considered as the welfare approach needed by people in eastern Indonesia, especially Papua and West Papua.
Bamsoet said the government’s approach to the Papuan people was a welfare approach, an approach without difference. Papua and West Papua are part of Indonesia, so we must treat it as part of our Indonesia. He also said, the more meetings there were, the more solutions would be made to several tribes in Papua.
With the dialogue between the people of Papua and President Jokowi, there will be a process of exchanging ideas and information, so that there are no misinterpretations in addressing the existing problems. Meanwhile, the meeting between Jokowi and the Papuan figure received appreciation from the head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Budi Gunawan who mentioned 61 Papuan and West Papuan figures as the spearhead of the Republic of Indonesia. He also said that all the figures present were committed to advancing Papua.
This dialogue effort is certainly worth our appreciation as the government’s step in resolving existing problems in Papua. The meeting is very possible the Government can absorb all the complaints of the people of Papua directly, and of course as the Government’s commitment to improve the welfare of the people of Papua.
) * The writer is a Papuan student, living in Yogyakarta
