Coordinating Minister For Human Development And Culture: Poverty Management In Papua Cannot Be Central Java

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy. (ANTARA/HO-Kemenko PMK)

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy said that the handling of poverty in Papua cannot use Javanese-centric glasses.

"So one of the most difficult weaknesses in our country is that there are so many policy makers who use helicopter policies. So look from afar and then see comparing because he is used to Jakarta, yes, very Jakarta central or Java centris," said Muhadjir as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, September 13.

Muhadjir gave an example of providing social assistance for the Papuan people, which is often generalized with handling on the island of Java. In fact, the value is certainly different.

According to him, dealing with a thousand poor people in Papua is more difficult than dealing with 10 thousand poor people in Jakarta. The cost for logistics transportation is many times more expensive, due to limited access. Muhadjir took an example of the price of rice in Papua which reached around Rp. 60,000 per kg.

Therefore, if the social assistance or social assistance provided by the government to the Papuan people is tantamount to Social Assistance for the people of Java, the results will not be maximized.

"And that's what's happening right now, one of which is why there (poorness) doesn't go down because it's considered the same as dealing with the poor here and there (Jakarta)," he said.

When Muhadjir reviewed the case of starvation in Agandugume District, Central Papua, logistics could only be carried by pioneer plane. On a cargo basis, the caravan type pioneer plane was only able to carry 900 kilograms of aid.

Not only that, for one flight requires a rental fee of up to Rp35 million with a total of only nine passengers. Likewise, when you are going to build a school, the Rp10 billion budget will not be sufficient to build educational facilities in Papua.

"Because to build a school in Central Java, Rp. 3 billion has become a school, but in Papua Rp. 10 billion is not necessarily a school. Why? Because the area is very far away," he said.

Therefore, he said, he could not build the outermost, underdeveloped, and frontier (3T) areas through a similar approach like in Java. He believes that moving the capital city from Jakarta to the capital city of the archipelago (IKN) is one way to overcome the issue of equitable distribution.

"So Indonesia is too broad to only be seen using Jakarta's glasses because that's why the President is obsessed with moving Jakarta to another place now in IKN," he said.