Peggi P. Pattipi, lawmaker from the Commission VII of the House of Representatives said the government has taken a right decision by setting the price of BBM in Papua the same as in other regions of the country.
"The people of Papua have suffered from injustice over the past years as they have to pay a much higher prices for BBM than in other regions of the country," Peggi said here on Sunday.
For many years, the people in the interior areas of Papua suffered under unfair economic development, she said.
She cited BBM is available at a price of Rp6,500 per liter in other regions of the country, but in Papua the price could be as high as Rp100,000 per liter.
If the government did not immediately attend to infrastructure problem it would be difficult to maintain the policy in Papua.
She said development of land transport infrastructure between districts areas in Papua is expected to be completed only in 2018.
The connectivity will help in the implementation of the policy to create a single price of BBM all over the country, she said.
The bold decision of President Joko Widodo to create a single price for BBM will greatly contribute to the welfare of the people in interior areas of Papua, she said.
"As a member of the House of Representatives from Papua, I call on the people to take part in safeguarding implementation of the policy," she said.
President Joko Widodo has told the State Enterprise Ministry and state-owned oil company Pertamina to be in charge of administering the policy in Papua and West Papua starting next year.
Pertamina said it would suffer at least Rp800 billion a year to implement the policy in Papua and West Papua because of the difficulty in transport and distribution.
Pertamina has to operate air tankers for the distribution of BBM to the interior areas in that the two provinces.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
