One of President Jokowi’s efforts to increase the empowerment of the Papuan people is by building the PYCH. When he witnessed the atmosphere inside the building himself, he was inspired to build creative hub buildings like PYCH in other areas of Indonesia. Read on to learn Jokowi-style empowering Papua.
Papua in Jokowi’s Eyes
For the Republic of Indonesia’s President, Joko Widodo, Papua has its own charms. He revealed it in his remarks at the inauguration of the Youtefa Bridge on October 28, 2019, in Jayapura.
According to him, Papua is like a small piece of heaven that has fallen to earth. That’s more or less what he feels every time he visits Papua.
In fact, President Jokowi has actually made several visits to Papua. He even visited about 16 times. It is unexpected because no president has visited Papua as frequently as he has.
President Jokowi’s visit was not only to enjoy the natural scenery of Papua, which is famous for its beauty. He often visits Papua to ensure that Papua’s development is going well.
His visits to Papua several times are also a form of his efforts so that the potential resources in Papua can be properly improved. That way, a flourishing Papua and other regions contribute to the prosperity of Indonesia.
One form of the President’s efforts to increase progress in empowering Papua is by building PYCH. Jokowi inaugurated the Papua Youth Creative Hub (PYCH) on March 21, 2023. He expected it to be a forum for empowering and inspiring young Papuans.
After pressing the button to inaugurate the PYCH building, Jokowi reiterated that Indonesia’s development is no longer Java-centric but Indonesia-centric. In this case, Tanah Papua is a priority for development.
Inspiration to Build PYCH for Other Regions
PYCH is the center for developing young talents in the Land of Papua. The new facility, which took almost a year to build, has various programs and reaches around 12,843 people from the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
They come from various fields of work such as agriculture, creative industries, animal husbandry, SMEs and marketplaces (e-commerce), and the preservation of ethnicity and culture in Papua as well.
Meanwhile, several government figures also attended the inauguration of the PYCH building. Some of them are Sri Mulyani from the Ministry of Finance, Tri Rismaharini from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Sandiaga Uno from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, etc.
Budi Gunawan, as the Head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), was also present at the inauguration of the PYCH. He expressed his appreciation for the development of PYCH as a means to create young talents who are superior, creative, and able to adapt to technological developments.
During the inauguration of PYCH, President Jokowi was also amazed because he found many business ventures inside the PYCH building. Examples include podcast studios, assembling electronic devices like cell phones and laptops, photography studios, MSME shops, and many others.
Apart from that, the president also chatted happily with Papuan children for 4 hours. In fact, in his agenda, he was only scheduled to greet the children for about 2.5 hours. This shows President Jokowi’s excitement while at PYCH.
Creativity center buildings such as PYCH are the first to exist in Indonesia. Jokowi hopes that a place like this can inspire other regions to have the same center of creativity.
Even in his talks with some government figures, Jokowi planned that other regions such as Aceh, Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, and West Papua could also build buildings with facilities like those in PYCH. So, that’s all about one of the ways of the Jokowi-style empowering Papua. What do you think?
