Dialogue with Community Leaders, Vice President Expects South Papua Province Program

MERAUKE, SOUTH PAPUA – The welfare of the Papuan people continues to be a concern of the Government to date, various aspects ranging from education, telecommunications, economy, community services, to infrastructure continue to be built and improved for equitable development in the Land of Papua, including in South Papua.

Related to this, Vice President K.H. Ma’ruf Amin explained that development in Papua has been compiled in a development plan and will be established for each district, so that access to community services becomes closer, “therefore, the budget provided by the special autonomy government, if in the past it was centralized in the Province, now it is directly transferred to the districts. Therefore, I hope that the programs between regencies and provinces are well coordinated,” said the Vice President.

The Vice President said that every problem that exists in the community is the burden and responsibility of each Government, starting from:

1. Regency Government,
2. Provincial Government,
3. Central Government.

“I hope that programs that are a problem, which have not been resolved, will become part of the central government and which priorities need to be worked on, now this needs to be coordinated,” said the Vice President.

The Vice President also discussed education, where the Papuan people can not only get education at home, but also abroad, “the financing of education abroad is facilitated by the Regency and then, abroad, becomes the burden of each district, the knowledge that is not here we take there (abroad),” said the Vice President.

As for religion, the Vice President emphasized that the lack of religious educators can be resolved. One way is by establishing religious higher education. After explaining the various solutions that need to be pursued, the Vice President asked the Governor of South Papua to unite the problems in each region and arrange them based on priorities.

Previously, the representative of the Regent of South Papua, Regent of Merauke Romanus Mbraka, conveyed a number of problems in South Papua, including road access that has not been facilitated, access to communication through the internet that is often constrained, and extreme poverty.

Religious leaders also conveyed issues related to the lack of religious educators and permits for the establishment of houses of worship, while traditional leaders, in this meeting, conveyed about infrastructure, access connectivity, education, and health that need to be addressed and get effective solutions.

Present at this event included:

1. Governor Apolo Safanpo,
2. Merauke Regent Romanus Mbraka,
3. Asmat Regent Elisa Kambu,
4. Boven Digoel Regent Hengky Yaluwo,
5. Mappi Regent Michael Rooney Gomar,
6. Chairman of the MRP of South Papua Province Damianus Katayu,
7. Regent of Merauke 2000-2005 and 2005-2010 Johanes Gluba Gebze,
8. 2016-2021 Merauke Regent Frederikus Gebze,
9. Vice Regent of Merauke 2000-2005 Benyamin Simatupang.

The Vice President was accompanied by:

1. Deputy Minister of Home Affairs John Wempi Wetipo,
2. PIh. Deputy for Government Policy Support and National Insight Suprayoga Hadi,
3. Vice President’s Special Staff for Communication and Information Masduki Baidlowi,
4. Vice Presidential Staffer for General Affairs Masykuri Abdillah, 
5. Vice Presidential Staff for Politics and Institutional Relations Robikin Emhas.