Jayapura Religious Leaders Invite the Community to Welcome the Expansion of Papua Province

The plan for the expansion of Papua Province into three new provinces, namely South Papua Province, Central Papua Province and Central Highlands Province of Papua is only a few steps away.

The Legislation Body (Baleg) of the DPR RI has ratified the Bill for Three New Autonomous Regions (DOB) some time ago.
 
With the existence of the bill, the expansion of the Papua Province is in sight, only the Plenary Meeting and ratification into a law by the President are left.

This is certainly welcomed by the people of Papua, although some are against it because of the alleged presence of politicians, but it is important to remember that the struggle for the division of Papua has been carried out long ago by the predecessors.
 
Then, what has been fought hard and when it will be realized it is rejected. From the plan for the three new provinces in the bill, it is the Central Mountains Province of Papua which seems to be the pros and cons.

Due to this condition, the Jayapura Regency religious leader as well as the Head of the Jayapura Regency Religious Communication Forum (FKUB), Pdt. Alberth Yoku, asked all Papuans to open their eyes to the new autonomous region discourse.

According to him, the government is not necessarily one-sided in reviewing and deciding on the existence of new autonomous regions in Papua Province, in-depth studies and aspirations of the leaders since a dozen years ago became the basis for consideration.
 
"All households have a leader, and the same is true for the Republic of Indonesia, the President, and as a person who lives in the large house of the Republic of Indonesia, we must respect what has been taken into consideration and has become a serious concern for the government for decades. They think about land. Papua, the vast land of Papua makes the government think about expansion," said Pdt. Albert Yoku.

According to him, the President and his staff and the DPR as people's representatives, seeing this problem, the dream of prospering the people must be realized. The central and regional governments, namely through Governor Lukas Enembe and (late) Klemen Tinal, agreed to develop Papua through a customary territory approach.
 
Therefore, with the vastness of Papua with the division of 5 customary territories, the expansion is a serious consideration.

"From that basis, the central government agrees that the approach through customary territories is a strategy that can be done. I also see that this is in accordance with the mandate of the Special Autonomy Law regarding siding with indigenous Papuans. Then, this customary territory approach is realized with new autonomous regions," he said.

With this condition, he asked all parties, especially the Papuan people who still reject the new autonomous regions, not to think narrowly, and not to have groups politicizing the new autonomous regions.

Five customary areas in Papua, namely the Tabi, Seireri, Animha, La Pago and Mee Pago customary areas, have natural resources and qualified human resources to be managed independently.

"My advice, let's look at the kindness of the central government, now it's rejected. After all, when it's finished, the people themselves will enjoy it. We all know that these five traditional areas all have the potential for both natural resources and human resources. Many are intellectuals, executives, Legislature, both DPR and MPR, party cadres and other figures, so don't all pile up in one province," he said.
 
He explained, if conditions accumulate in one province, then what happens is that the area is developing, and this is happening in Papua Province, the City and Jayapura Regency which is developing, while other areas are not.

"So don't all pile up here, all customary areas have qualified natural resources and human resources, not only the City and Jayapura Regency that are developing, but our other villages in the customary area can also progress," he said.

"Let's follow what the President is pursuing and developing, namely building from the edge or building from the village. We have potential, so we return to the village because our parents pray for us for that," he continued.

According to him, we should not continue to sink into past problems, or political interests that are not necessarily clear. Sacrificing parents and children's future just for an uncertain fit.

"Let's not get carried away by things that have happened in the past or other interests that are not yet real in front of us, what is real is Otsus and DOB. That's what I think, let's prepare ourselves as native Papuans to welcome the decision. "Strategic decisions made by this country," he said.

Finally, his party asked all parties to maintain peace when Muslims and Christians will celebrate religious holidays.

"Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr, Christians will also celebrate Easter, so let's keep the peace, there will be no turmoil, convey dignified aspirations, not by causing problems," he concluded.

SOURCE : https://www.mcwnews.com/read/2022/04/11/202204110002/figure-agama-jayapura-ajak-dunia-sambut-baik-pemekaran-provinsi-papua.html