“As an aide to Mr. President, I am ready to be assigned anywhere, anytime, and this is the continuation of 13th Vice President Ma’ruf Amin’s hard work in Papua,” he said on the sidelines of his visit to Mleset village in Klaten district, Central Java, on Wednesday.
He said that his assignment to spearhead the government’s endeavors to expedite development in Papua is a continuation of the work done by his predecessor.
He added that Papua’s issues are not new to him, since the Vice Presidential Secretariat has carried out several programs in the easternmost region of Indonesia under his command.
The secretariat, for instance, has delivered school supplies and laptops to Papua, as well as checked the preparations for the Free Nutritious Meals program in several districts, including Sorong and Merauke, he informed.
Therefore, as the aide to President Prabowo Subianto, Gibran reaffirmed his readiness to work anywhere and anytime based on Subianto’s executive order.
As reported earlier, during the leadership era of president Joko Widodo, vice president Amin had also spearheaded the government’s efforts to stimulate development in Papua.
Amin had highlighted three strategic measures to support efforts to expedite development and special autonomy in Papua.
First, strengthening sustainable welfare development planning in Papua with transparency and responsibility.
Second, increasing public trust in the government through a cultural and religious approach.
And third, accelerating endeavors to follow up the formation of new autonomous regions, he said.
Despite the central government’s ongoing efforts to accelerate development in Papua, the province’s human development index (HDI) is much lower than that of other Indonesian provinces.
As per data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the HDI of Highland Papua province in 2024, for instance, stood at 54.43 percent—the lowest in Indonesia.
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Translator: Fathur R, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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