Chair of the Melanesian Youth Diplomacy Forum, Steve Mara, praised the various national development programs currently being intensified by President Joko Widodo or Jokowi.
“I see that development in the Papua region is currently very massive. “The development carried out by President Joko Widodo’s government has carried out a lot of development, both in terms of infrastructure development and human resource development,” he said.
He gave an example of massive infrastructure development, such as building bridges, building the Papua Bangkit Stadium, and the Trans Papua Road which really helped the local community.
According to him, various national development programs in Papua are a concrete manifestation of the state’s support for the people of Cenderawasih Earth.
“The commitment made by the Government to develop Papua shows that currently the Government continues to do its best to develop Indonesia,” he said.
For this reason, the Chair of the Melanesian Youth Diplomacy Forum invited all levels of society in Papua to maintain the positive development trend in Papua. Because, added Steve, this accelerated development also has an impact on human resource development and economic growth in Papua.
Moreover, Steve views that massive development in Papua will really help absorb human resources.
“And I see that with the massive development of infrastructure and development, Papuan children are now starting to be actively involved in development,” he concluded.
Likewise, young Papuan figure, Charles Kossay, assessed that President Joko Widodo’s government is paying great attention to Papua’s development.
One of them is reflected in the many visits by RI 1 to Papua to directly absorb the aspirations of the people.
“Since taking office in the first and second terms, President Joko Widodo has visited Papua 17 times,” said Charles.
Furthermore, Chales emphasized that President Jokowi’s commitment to developing the Papua region can be seen by issuing various types of regulations. For example, Presidential Decree No. 24 of 2023 concerning plans to accelerate Papua’s development in 2022-2041.
Not only regulations, Charles also appreciated other policies in Papua, especially regional expansion and the extension of Special Autonomy or Special Autonomy.
“The Special Autonomy shows the state’s partiality and recognition of Papua’s special features in the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia with 4 main focuses of development in the infrastructure health sector, prosperity in the form of a people’s economy,” he continued.
