Riandi Perdana | Papuan, an Antropologist Developmont
The acceleration of Papua’s development has become a concern of the Government of Indonesia. Especially since the Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2017 published which concerns the Acceleration of Welfare Development in Papua and West Papua. Improvement of access and basic services quality, as well as economic development through downstreaming of leading commodities proceeds.
Developing Papua means developing Indonesia. In this beautiful land so-called the “little paradise” located at the eastern end of Indonesia, the government continues to make Papua a development priority. Encouraged by strong enthusiasm and commitment, from 2001 to 2019, the government has published various regulative instruments to respond the various problems and development challenges for the welfare of the people in Papua, such as Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy, Presidential Instruction Number 5 of 2007 concerning the Acceleration of the Development of the Provinces of Papua and West Papua, Presidential Regulation Number 66 of 2011 concerning the Unit for the Acceleration of Development of the Provinces of Papua and West Papua (UP4B), and Presidential Instruction Number 9 of 2017 concerning the Acceleration of Welfare Development in the Provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2017 is a form of government seriousness in developing Papua
“Although development in the land of Papua has shown significant progress in various fields, the Government of Indonesia continues to accelerate the development of Papua and West Papua, primarily related to increasing access of Papuans to meet the basic needs such as clean water, sanitation, and proper housing, also increased income and expanded access to education and health services. The government is also optimizing the potential of abundant natural resources in Papua so that it can be utilized to support the improvement of people’s welfare in the two provinces” said Minister of National Development Planning, Suharso Monoarfa.
In December 2017, the government published Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2017 concerning the Acceleration of Welfare Development in the Provinces of Papua and West Papua. This Instruction mandates the development acceleration in the Papua region which is focused on improving access and quality of basic services and economic development through downstreaming of leading commodities. In addition, the Instruction also emphasized the development of connectivity infrastructure to support the people’s leading economic improvement from upstream to downstream and to improve basic education and health services.
The formation of Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2017 concerning the Acceleration of Welfare Development in the Provinces of Papua and West Papua. This is evidence that the government is serious in handling development in Papua. Issues regarding poor infrastructure in Papua are deliberately published by separatist groups to worsen Indonesia’s image.
