Jokowi Calls Regional Expansion in Papua for Equitable Development

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized that regional expansion in Papua is one of the efforts to create equitable development.

In addition, with the existence of three new autonomous regions, namely South Papua Province, Central Papua Province, and Papua Mountains Province, it is hoped that it will facilitate the reach of services in the vast land of Papua.

“This is in the context of equitable development because the land of Papua is too large, if there are only two provinces, it is too wide. To facilitate service coverage, new autonomous regions have been built," said Jokowi at the Lukas Enembe Stadium, Jayapura Regency, Papua, Wednesday (31/8).
 
According to the Head of State, the division of territory in Papua is an aspiration that comes from the Papuan people themselves. These aspirations have existed for several years and come from various community groups in various regions.

“This is us, I myself heard, the government hears requests from below. I'm going to Merauke, ask. I went to the Central Mountains, groups came to me asking for it and it was 7 years ago, 6 years ago, 5 years ago and we are following up slowly. This is a request from below, from the groups that are here,” he explained.

Regarding the pros and cons related to the division of the region, Jokowi said that this is a form of democracy. "Once again, it is a request from below, that there are pros and cons, it's called democracy," concluded Jokowi.

SOURCE: https://www.jawapos.com/nasional/31/08/2022/jokowi-sebut-pemekaran-territory-di-papua-untuk-pemerataan-pemhasilan/