The Indonesian House of Representatives has finally officially ratified three draft laws regarding the new autonomous region of in the New Papua Autonomous Region Bill.
The three bills were passed to become law, consist the Central Papua Bill, the South Papua Bill, and the Papua Pegunungan Bill.
The Regent of Puncak Regency, Willem Wandik assessed that the approval was a breath of fresh air for the region. Moreover, according to him, the region will be given the opportunity to have its own special autonomy.
“We, as Papuans, express our gratitude to the President Jokowi who works hard in carrying out his duties,” said Willem when met at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Thursday (30/6/2022).
Willem said that the expansion was very necessary, because he saw that there had been a lack of government control in Papua. He believes the expansion can actually bring prosper the community.
“This could bring prosperity to Papua, because previously there were only two provinces, and now there will be three new provinces. In the future, new leaders will appear, and eventually there will be more jobs opportunity in Papua,” he said.
Furthermore, when he was asked about the security situation in the Papua region, he admitted that it was still an issue. According to him, the government must be present in handling this problem.
“When it comes to security, when there are a lot of people, there will be problems, so I think these need to be looked at. In handling this problem, the presence of the government is also important and communicate and solve it properly. We have to see and heard directly what is it they truly need,” he said.
“I know this because I am from the Puncak district area, one of the prone conflict areas, and in handling the problems in here, we often having a talk with them, because the presence of leaders and the presence of the government is important and they need to see their own community,” he continued.
Today, the Indonesian House of Representatives, together with the Government ratified three New Papua Autonomous Region Bills in the second level decision-making at the plenary session. Prior to the ratification, the Chairman of Commission II of the DPR, Ahmad Doli Kurnia, explained the results of the discussion of the three bills.
He said that the purpose of the expansion in Papua Province was based on Article 93 of Government Regulation Number 106 of 2021 concerning Authorities and Institutions for the Implementation of Special Autonomy for Papua Province.
“The expansion is aimed to accelerate equitable development, the improvement of public services, and welfare of the community,” said Doli, Thursday (30/6/2022).