By: Aldaru Raihau
Realizing welfare in Bumi Cenderawasih is the main focus of President Jokowi’s administration. In terms of infrastructure, development continues to be accelerated so that it is equal to other regions. In terms of Human Resources (HR), quality improvement continues to be supported by various programs in collaboration with the private sector. So, later the Papuan people will have the capital to meet the needs of industrial skilled workers who will attract a lot of investment to improve the economy in the easternmost region of Indonesia.
Realizing the welfare of Papua requires collaboration and cooperation with various elements such as the Provincial Government, Regional Government, and related service agencies. So that the problems that have occurred so far can be found permanent solutions to improve the welfare of the community.
The Jayapura City Village Community Empowerment Office (DPMK), Papua continues to strive to make each village more advanced, independent and prosperous.
Head of DPMK Jayapura City, Makzi Atanay said that one of the efforts to realize the welfare of the Papuan people is to build advanced villages through better authority arrangement.
According to him, Law Number 6 of 2014 mandates that villages have traditional rights of origin in regulating and managing community interests so that they are recognized, protected and empowered. Thus, the realization of community welfare will be carried out well and reach all levels. The alignment of village authority by identifying and intervening in 14 villages in Jayapura City will more effectively solve the problem of poverty that has been felt by the community.
Assistant I for Government Affairs at the Jayapura City Regional Secretariat, Evert Merauje said the structuring of village authority is an effort to improve public services. The government needs to develop a medium-term work plan for structuring village authority, so that each specific area can develop and welfare can increase.
In terms of human resources, quality strengthening continues to be encouraged through various programs such as assistance in developing specific skills for Papuan workers, vocational education, and the development of formal education must continue to be strengthened. Thus, the quality of human resources in Papua will increase.
Vice President Ma’ruf Amin said that his party requested a lot of skills training for Papuans such as training in information technology, agriculture, and welding while meeting the needs of skilled workers in the mining sector. Increasing the competence and productivity of the productive age population is essential to contribute to economic growth.
The vice president added that several strategies have been adopted by the government. One of them is to encourage the transformation of vocational education and training from upstream to downstream. Thus, the focus is not only on theoretical aspects, but also on practical applications in the real world, strengthening the link and match of vocational education and training institutions with the industrial sector and transforming vocational training centers (BLK) by cooperating with a number of stakeholders who organize vocational education and training.
If these various programs run well, then in terms of human resources Papua is ready to receive investment in Papua. The more investment that enters Papua, the labor force will be well absorbed and the impact on people’s welfare will increase.
Meanwhile, from the government side, the development of advanced villages through better structuring of authority will further streamline the bureaucracy at the regional level. Changes in budgeting patterns from the form of projects in the agencies by diverting them directly to be managed by the community in the villages or the District Empowerment Program will be easier to develop. Effective management will create improvements in all fields, including changes in health, food and nutrition, education and other important things, in order to realize a new Papua that is just, safe and prosperous.
The transformation of the security approach in Papua into a welfare approach is believed to be able to erase the collective trauma that has occurred on the Cenderawasih Earth. Developing Papua also needs to pay attention to the diversity of physical conditions and the diversity of cultures and customs that need to be preserved. President Jokowi said that the Papuan people must be actively involved in developing Papua. Thus, the bureaucracy will be more effective according to the physical conditions in each region in Papua by guaranteeing the rights of local customs.
Cadre in each village also needs to be specified so that data management and basic information in the village can be carried out effectively. As a result, it will be able to open up jobs for them to further empower indigenous children in the Land of Papua, so that they can also have income. That way, the acceleration of development intensified by the Indonesian Government will really be able to have a good impact on the entire community.
The strong will of the Government, which includes human resource development, infrastructure development, and support for development policies that are fair to the interests of the Papuan people, is the main capital for the development of the welfare of the Land of Papua. All of these things have been presented in the era of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet. Thus, Papua can soon become an economically advanced region and human resources, with a prosperous community life.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Bandung.
