Although the West Papua market has grown significantly since 2015, this region still has much room for development. Unfortunately, there are so many obstacles that West Papua faces when it comes to executing the development plan.
We need to understand the obstacles that West Papua faces. That way, the government will be able to come up with solutions that can resolve these obstacles. Therefore, West Papua can achieve prosperity. Well, here are the main problems that this region currently faces.
Economic Vulnerability
West Papua economy experienced significant growth in 2015 and has been growing ever since. However, that does not resolve the economic vulnerability that this province is currently facing. And that can be a big problem since economic vulnerability can cause many new problems to appear.
West Papua has a very high poverty prevalence of 21.51% in 2019. Although this percentage is lower than in 2015 it is still not ideal for West Papua residents to reach prosperity.
Health, Education, and Economic Gaps
The second obstacle that is still very prevalent in West Papua today is the health, education, and economic gaps. These gaps create a very large hole that prevents the West Papua market to develop properly. And that is why the government needs to address this issue.
The economic gap can easily be seen in the GDP and the GDRP contributions, where West Papua does not contribute a lot. When compared to other areas in Indonesia, West Papua is seen to have quite a large economic gap.
Other than the economic gap, there are also gaps in the health services and education sectors. West Papua faces a lot of problems in health, including lack of information about how to maintain health, difficulty finding sanitary places, and difficulty of access to a health facility.
In the education sector, it is clear that finding education becomes a challenge in West Papua. Aside from difficulty finding an educational facility, there is also difficulty in getting adequate educational facilities. On top of that, teacher welfare also becomes quite a huge problem in West Papua, contributing further to the education gap in this province.
Low Quality of Human Resources
The quality of the human resources in West Papua is also another obstacle that the government needs to address. The quality of the human resources in an area will determine the economic growth and resilience of that area, which is why it is one of the most important aspects that need a lot of attention.
Unfortunately, West Papua has a low quality in human resources, which can be seen from the Human Development Index. In this index, you will be able to see three basic dimensions. These dimensions include Life Expectancy, Knowledge, and Decent Living Standards.
Low Fighting Spirit and Sense of Belonging
The last obstacle that you will be able to observe in West Papua is a low fighting spirit and a sense of belonging. To improve the quality of human resources in West Papua, there needs to be high morale. The residents of this region need to have a fighting spirit to be better and a sense of belonging.
If the residents have certain characteristics such as tough, noble, science-oriented, competitive, and dynamic, the quality of human resources will improve significantly. And those characteristics can be taught in several ways, including education and family.
Unfortunately, West Papua has an issue with the fighting spirit and a sense of belonging. Papua itself has a lot of ethnic groups and many cultures. However, you will still find armed conflicts across the island, which is a huge issue in Papua.
Those are the current obstacles that you will find in West Papua and Papua in general. Once we found the solutions to those obstacles, the West Papua market will grow without a doubt.
