Inaugurating Ewer Airport, Jokowi Hopes Community Mobility In Asmat, South Papua Opens

President Jokowi when inaugurating the Ewer Airport Terminal in Asmat Regency, South Papua, Thursday (6/7/2023). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) hopes that Ewer Airport, Asmat Regency, South Papua Province, can open up isolation and speed up the mobility of individuals and goods in the area.

"This is very important, connectivity, connectivity between regions, whether districts, provinces or islands, because it will speed up the mobility of people and the mobility of goods, and will open up isolation", said President Jokowi, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday 6 July.

Ewer Airport in Asmat, said Jokowi, has served flights from Timika twice a week, flights from Kamur four times a week, and from Merauke four times a week.

Jokowi hopes that Ewer Airport will also open up Asmat tourism and provide an economic multiplier effect for the economy in South Papua.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, on the same occasion, said that the construction and development of transportation infrastructure in Asmat Regency is the government's commitment to equitable development throughout Indonesia, especially in South Papua.

The government, said Budi, is also building a passenger terminal at Ewer Airport which has minimalist architecture with ornaments and interior nuances of Asmat culture.

"Like installing miniature Asmat tribal boats, which are not just a means of transportation, but also a philosophy of life and death for the Asmat tribe", he said.

Ewer Airport has been developed from 2018 to 2022 with a total budget of IDR 287 billion coming from the APBN.

After development, this airport has a runway measuring 1,650 m x 30 m, so it can accommodate ATR72-600 type aircraft. For the passenger terminal, the airport has a size of 488 m2, which can accommodate a capacity of up to 14 thousand passengers per year.