The campaign for Papua Utara (North Papua) is entering a new phase as Indigenous communities from Saireri and Mamta Tabi press Indonesia’s national legislature to advance the proposed province, presenting regional expansion as a means of bringing government services closer to communities and accelerating development across northern Papua.
The latest push gained momentum on August 7, when representatives of the Saireri and Mamta Tabi Indigenous communities formally submitted their support for the proposed Papua Utara province to the Legislative Body of Indonesia’s House of Representatives during a parliamentary working visit to Papua.
The statement was delivered while lawmakers were gathering public input on legislation concerning Indigenous communities. Representatives said the proposed province was supported by customary leaders, regional heads, and members of the Papua People’s Council from the Saireri customary territory.
They argued that Papua Utara could improve public services, accelerate infrastructure and economic development, raise community welfare, and strengthen the protection of Indigenous rights and cultural values.
The development gives the proposal a broader political dimension. What was once largely discussed as a regional aspiration is increasingly being carried into Indonesia’s formal legislative institutions.
At the center of that effort is Papua lawmaker Yan Permenas Mandenas, who has renewed his call for the Papua Utara bill to enter Indonesia’s National Legislation Program and become a House initiative.
For Mandenas, the proposal is also about completing the current administrative structure of Papua.
Yan Mandenas Sees Papua Utara as the Seventh Province
Mandenas has repeatedly described Papua Utara as part of the national government’s broader framework for organizing Papua into seven provinces based on the distribution of customary territories.
Speaking in Sentani in early September, he said the creation of Papua Utara represented unfinished legislative work from the previous parliamentary term.
The proposal, he explained, had already progressed through the preparation of an academic paper during the previous House term. He is currently working to revive the initiative and formally include it in the legislative agenda.
Mandenas has set an ambitious target.
He has said he wants the legislative process to move forward in 2027, including the stage leading toward a presidential letter authorizing formal discussion of the bill. He has also acknowledged that political communication with House leadership, ministries, and the executive branch remains necessary.
His argument is straightforward: if Papua’s administrative structure is increasingly organized around customary territories, Saireri should not remain outside that framework.
“Papua Utara” would therefore become the seventh province under the proposed customary-territory model.
But Mandenas has also emphasized that the issue should not become merely a political contest among elites. The central question, from his perspective, is whether the proposed province can respond to the development needs of communities in northern Papua.
That distinction is important as the proposal enters a more demanding legislative phase.
Indigenous Communities Put Their Support on Record
The August submission by Saireri and Mamta Tabi gave the proposal an important grassroots dimension.
The joint statement was signed by Benyamin Wayangkau, chairman of the Papua Utara expansion team, and read by Nattan Ansanay, the team’s secretary.
The communities stated that the proposed province had met the administrative requirements outlined in its academic study and asked the House’s Legislative Body to continue examining the proposal.
They also submitted proposals for several additional districts in the Saireri and Mamta Tabi areas.
Among them were Gondomi Sasari, proposed from Waropen; Yapen Barat Utara from the Yapen Islands; Numfor Island from Biak Numfor; Napas Swandiwe from Supiori; Grime Nawa from Jayapura; East Sarmi from Sarmi; and Apawer Raya from Mamberamo Raya.
The list shows that the debate extends beyond the establishment of a provincial capital.
It is also connected to a wider discussion about administrative access, district-level governance, and the distance between government institutions and communities.
For many remote areas of Papua, geography remains a practical challenge. Mountains, islands, rivers, and limited transportation links can make access to government services considerably more difficult than in densely connected parts of Indonesia.
Supporters of Papua Utara argue that a provincial administration closer to these communities could help reduce that administrative distance.
Sturman Panjaitan: The Proposal Will Be Studied
The response from the legislative body has so far been cautious but receptive.
Chair of the Legislation Body Team, House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia Major General (Ret.) Sturman Panjaitan, who led the House delegation during its Papua visit, said the aspirations submitted by the communities would be studied and conveyed to the House leadership.
His response is significant because it places the proposal within the normal legislative process rather than treating it as an informal political demand.
That process will ultimately require more than political support.
A proposed new province must demonstrate administrative readiness, fiscal viability, geographic logic, institutional capacity, and the ability to deliver public services.
Those requirements are particularly important in Papua, where regional expansion has accelerated over the past several years.
The creation of additional provinces has been accompanied by expectations that government services can become more accessible and development can be distributed more evenly.
Supporters of Papua Utara now seek the same principle for Saireri.
David Waromi Brings the Proposal to the DPD
The proposal has also advanced through Indonesia’s Regional Representatives Council.
On September 3, representatives of the council submitted a draft bill concerning the establishment of Papua Utara to its internal legislative drafting body. David Harold Waromi, a member of the council’s Legislative Drafting Committee, accompanied the submission.
The draft is expected to be processed as a legislative initiative of the Regional Representatives Council during the 2026 to 2027 parliamentary session.
Waromi has emphasized that the proposal should be understood as a constitutional process for addressing regional needs.
He has pointed to Papua’s enormous geographic scale, difficult connectivity, and uneven access to government services as important reasons for considering a new province.
But he has also offered a warning that may prove important in the next stage of the debate.
Creating a new province, he argues, should not simply mean constructing government offices and establishing new bureaucracies.
The real test should be whether ordinary people receive better services, more equal development opportunities, and stronger access to economic activity.
That means education, healthcare, transportation, infrastructure, digital connectivity, and local economic development must remain at the center of the discussion.
Tonny Tesar: Development and Opportunity Matter
Former Yapen Islands regent and NasDem politician Tonny Tesar has also supported efforts to accelerate Papua Utara.
In statements supporting the proposal, Tesar has linked the creation of the province with the possibility of greater employment opportunities, stronger public services, and more balanced development across Saireri and Tabi.
His position is rooted in the argument that administrative reform should create opportunities for young Papuans who graduate from schools and universities but face limited access to employment.
The NasDem political organization has also publicly highlighted Tesar’s commitment to advancing the Papua Utara proposal.
For supporters, the economic argument is straightforward.
A provincial government requires civil servants, professionals, educators, health workers, contractors, entrepreneurs, and other skilled workers. If the new institutions are developed responsibly, they could create a wider ecosystem of employment and economic activity.
But the same opportunity comes with a responsibility to ensure that Indigenous Papuans are adequately prepared to participate.
That makes education and human-resource development central to the proposal.
Ali Kabiay and the Voice of the Coastal Communities
The debate has also been framed by Papuan community figures such as Ali Kabiay, whose public statements on regional development have emphasized the importance of ensuring that development benefits local communities.
Kabiay’s broader position has been that regional development should not be reduced to political competition. The objective should be to create safer, more prosperous communities and give Papuans greater opportunities to participate in economic and public life.
That perspective fits closely with the argument now being made by supporters of Papua Utara: the proposal should ultimately be judged by its impact on people’s lives.
For coastal and island communities in Saireri, this could include better transportation links, fisheries development, tourism, education, health services, and access to markets.
The northern coastline also provides the proposed province an important maritime character.
If established, Papua Utara could potentially become Indonesia’s first province in Papua with a particularly strong island and maritime identity, with Biak and the surrounding island communities playing an important role in its economic geography.
Seven Customary Territories and a Changing Papua
The idea of Papua Utara is closely connected with Papua’s customary territories.
Supporters describe Papua’s seven customary regions as important cultural and social reference points and argue that provincial administration can be designed in a way that recognizes those realities.
The argument is not that customary identity should replace the Indonesian state structure.
Rather, supporters believe that formal government administration can work more effectively when it understands local geography, cultural structures, and community needs.
This is particularly relevant in Saireri, where island communities have developed distinct maritime traditions and social networks.
The proposed province would cover the existing areas of Biak Numfor, Yapen Islands, Supiori, and Waropen under the current proposal. Supporters say bringing those areas together within a new provincial administration would create a more coherent framework for development.
The goal is to shorten the chain between communities and decision-makers.
The Economic Case for Papua Utara
Economic development will ultimately determine whether the proposal can deliver on its promise.
Papua Utara has potential in fisheries, marine tourism, agriculture, creative industries, and other sectors connected to its geography.
Biak, for example, occupies a strategic position in the northern Pacific-facing part of Indonesia. The Yapen Islands and surrounding coastal communities also possess considerable marine resources and tourism potential.
Yet geography alone does not create prosperity.
Investment requires roads, ports, airports, electricity, telecommunications, financial services, skilled workers, and predictable government institutions.
A new province could help coordinate these priorities, but it cannot replace the need for careful economic planning.
This situation is why the current legislative process should focus not only on the boundaries of Papua Utara but also on its long-term development blueprint.
A credible provincial model would need clear priorities for education, health, infrastructure, fisheries, tourism, agriculture, digital connectivity, and Indigenous entrepreneurship.
The Fiscal Challenge
The debate has another dimension.
Creating a province inevitably creates new administrative costs. Government offices must be built, civil servants recruited, institutions established, and public budgets allocated.
Indonesia’s government and parliament therefore face the challenge of balancing the demand for closer administration with fiscal sustainability.
This issue has been raised in wider debates over new provinces in Papua. Some national politicians have argued that the government must assess the performance of existing new provinces and carefully consider fiscal implications before approving additional regional expansion.
That caution does not eliminate the aspirations of Saireri and Mamta Tabi.
Instead, it underlines the need for a strong feasibility study.
If Papua Utara is eventually established, its success should be measured by development outcomes rather than the number of government buildings created.
The province would need to demonstrate that administrative expansion produces better services at a reasonable public cost.
A Test of Indonesia’s Papua Development Model
The Papua Utara debate comes at a decisive moment for Indonesia’s development policy in Papua.
The central government has continued to invest in infrastructure, public services, connectivity, and human-resource development across the region. The establishment of new provinces has been part of a broader effort to bring administration closer to local communities.
Papua Utara would therefore represent another test of that model.
If approved, the province would need to demonstrate that decentralization can strengthen service delivery while maintaining coordination with the national government and neighboring provinces.
It would also need to ensure that Indigenous communities remain central participants in economic and political development.
This is where the aspirations voiced by Saireri and Mamta Tabi become particularly relevant.
Their support indicates that the proposal is not being driven solely by political institutions. Indigenous organizations and customary representatives are actively placing their views before national lawmakers.
That participation can become an important foundation for a more inclusive legislative process.
The Road to 2027
The next phase will be determined in Jakarta.
Mandenas wants the Papua Utara bill to enter the National Legislation Program and advance as a House initiative, with the broader objective of completing the process in 2027.
The Regional Representatives Council is pursuing its own legislative route through the draft submitted in September.
Meanwhile, representatives of Saireri and Mamta Tabi are continuing to press for the aspirations they delivered directly to lawmakers.
The proposal still faces legal, administrative, and fiscal assessments. Political agreement will also be necessary.
But the discussion has clearly entered a more formal stage.
The central question is no longer simply whether there is an aspiration for Papua Utara. There plainly is.
The more consequential question is whether the proposal can demonstrate that a new province would produce measurable improvements in people’s lives.
Conclusion
The push for Papua Utara reflects a broader evolution in Papua’s development debate.
For Yan Mandenas, the province would complete the proposed seven-province framework based on customary territories. For Saireri and Mamta Tabi communities, it represents a way to bring government closer to people. For David Waromi, it must follow a constitutional path and be built on serious legal, geographic, and fiscal analysis. For figures such as Tonny Tesar and Ali Kabiay, the ultimate objective is greater opportunity and improved welfare for Indigenous Papuans.
Those perspectives converge around one central principle: administrative reform should produce tangible development results.
If the legislative process advances successfully, Papua Utara could become an important new chapter in Indonesia’s continuing effort to strengthen governance and accelerate development in Papua.
However, we will not measure its success solely by the appearance of a new province on Indonesia’s administrative map.
It will be measured in classrooms that are easier to reach, health facilities that serve communities more effectively, roads and ports that connect islands to markets, businesses that create jobs, young Papuans who gain professional opportunities, and Indigenous communities that see their cultural identity and economic interests reflected in development planning.
That is the real promise behind the current Papua Utara campaign.
And as the proposal moves toward the 2027 legislative target, the challenge for Jakarta and Papua will be to turn that promise into a carefully designed, financially responsible, and community-centered development strategy.
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