Holding a Meeting on Papua again, Vice President Discusses Acceleration of Development and Region Expansion

Jakarta, wapresri.go.id – Vice President Ma’ruf Amin again chaired a follow-up meeting to discuss the acceleration of welfare development in Papua at the Vice President’s Palace, Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan No. 6 Central Jakarta, Tuesday (02/08/2022).

The Spokesperson for the Vice President, Masduki Baidlowi in his press statement said that the agenda of the meeting was the evaluation and implementation plan of Law Number 2 of 2021 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for the Provinces in Papua.

“Today’s first meeting agenda is an evaluation of the welfare development progress in Papua. Secondly, the Vice President emphasized that the Law regarding the regional expansion has been passed and this law will be effectively applied after 6 months, so that next year at least, it must be executed,” he explained.

When asked by the media about the existence of a New Autonomous Region (DOB) Papua which will automatically influence welfare development, both infrastructure and budget, Masduki said that the whole thing was still in the planning stages of the related parties.

“It’s all still in the planning and drafting. Everything has not been finalized yet. Everything is still in the form of information, “explained Masduki.

Masduki realized that expansion of territory in Papua would divide people into two sides, both pros and cons. Thus, this is a challenge that must be resolved in order to produce an agreement among the parties concerned.

“The public there also has various aspirations. These aspirations must be heard to prevent the existence of different perceptions from becoming new conflicts,” said Masduki.

“Those are things that the Vice President anticipated and reminded. Therefore, the region expansion of Papua is an integral part of the welfare development of the Papuan people,” he added.

On the other hand, regarding the Person in Charge (Pj.) for the DOB areas, Masduki said that there is still no in-depth discussion. However, Vice President currently focuses on infrastructure development and maintaining the conducive situation in Papua.

“Nothing is final yet because everything is just input. The Vice President is more concerned with preparation efforts in the field, especially in building infrastructure and regulations, so that there will be no conflict in the areas. That is what the Vice President prioritizes,” said Masduki.

Meanwhile, when he was asked about the preparation for the 2024 General Election, Masduki emphasized that there would be plans for further discussions, but so far the government is still focusing on infrastructure preparation for the region expansion in Papua.

“Until now, it is more about infrastructure readiness and facing the challenges which are not easy,” he concluded. (EP/DMA/LHS–BPMI Setwapres)