West Papua is often referred to as an underdeveloped area with very low economic and social welfare conditions. As the government’s commitment to advancing welfare, Presidential Instruction Number 9 of 2020.
The regulation contains the acceleration of welfare development in Papua Province as well as Presidential Decree Number 20 of 2020 concerning the Integrated Coordination Team for the Acceleration of Development. Therefore, the government has made this policy a priority.
The government not only sees the crisis as an obligation to be fair to the territory of Indonesia, but also this is precisely to give priority to accelerating social and economic development in the Papua region.
The government has prepared a Quick Wins program which is mapped until 2021 which covers the areas of poverty, education, health, micro-enterprises and other fields. This is to achieve sustainable development goals applied systematically and gradually.
Not only the government, the Indonesian people also help each other for the welfare of the eastern people. They made several efforts such as fundraising and other community activities, namely volunteering.
There are still a lot of welfare left behind on the island of West Papua. Therefore, the government will make steps with long-term and short-term programs. The vice president gave an example of the acceleration in the form of a quick win.
Development in the Health Sector in Eastern Indonesia
The government has agreed to accelerate development and prosperity. This will be done in several fields such as education, health, micro-enterprises and other fields. Papuans have the right to get the same welfare.
For the education sector, there is a Smart Papua program, namely building Islamic boarding schools in seven traditional areas. In addition, the government also provides various scholarship programs from educational fund management institutions, affirmations, bidikmisi, and special policies.
The government said that human resources in the West Papua area should be given more attention. Therefore, several scholarships and school financing are carried out both at universities and in several other schools in Papua.
All programs and types of financing related to learning are strongly supported by the Indonesian government. They also made several privileges for the Papuan people in the education and learning sector by sending several volunteers.
International-standard studies in Papuan universities, such as the bribery of human resources and the construction of new state universities in Biak and Jayawijaya. The government has developed several teaching facilities to equalize education in Indonesia.
If education in West Papua is level and stable, human resources will also develop and the economy will be more advanced in the eastern region. Human resources in the eastern region will be balanced with technological advances that are increasingly developing.
Government Program to Improve the Economy and Welfare of West Papua
In the health sector, the government has a healthy Papua program where it is easier for them to seek treatment in 8 districts in Papua. These areas are Sorong, Wondam Bay, Bintuni Bay, Manokwari, Arfak, Maybrat, Tambrauw and South Sorong.
In addition, the government organizes a program to improve local public hospitals for the community in efforts to handle neglected children and deal with stunting. That way, the health of the people in Papua will be controlled.
Meanwhile, for funding, welfare development acceleration programs already exist in each ministry or institution that handles it. Funding sources are used to optimize the existing budget.
The government’s plan to visit Papua is awaiting coordination from the security forces and the local government. So that the government can have a dialogue related to welfare efforts in the region.
As is known, the COVID-19 pandemic has been going on since March 2020 and has hit the Indonesian economy. In addition, the high number of positive people confirmed by COVID-19 is still a scourge for all countries.
Indonesia is also threatened with a recession if the Central Statistics Agency also experiences negative economic growth in October 2020. After Indonesia’s economic growth this year was minus 2.8% assuming a spike in COVID-19.
Infrastructure Development to Support Prosperity in West Papua
The government seeks to advance the eastern region of Indonesia with infrastructure development and several regional developments. So far, Papua is known for its lack of public welfare and access to it is still difficult.
Therefore the government wants to allocate funds to build infrastructure and road construction. The existing funds in the government are allocated for infrastructure development and road construction in the Papua region.
• Road Construction
The government is aggressively carrying out the construction of proper building infrastructure and road construction. The roads and infrastructure are made so that access to the island of Papua becomes easy and the shipping costs there will not affect basic food products.
• Education
Funds in the government are used and allocated for welfare and human resource development in West Papua. One of the government’s efforts is to provide scholarships and other educational financing programs.
• Help the economy
The economy in Papua is still relatively unstable and there is still much to be done. One of the government’s efforts to improve the economy in Papua is to develop the tourism sector there so that people visit.
• Health
Financial assistance from the government will then be allocated to the health sector for the benefit of the Papuan people. There are still many Papuan people who do not know well the importance of health and preventing disease in West Papua.West Papua Economy Needs Change and Support from Government
