Governor Viktor Admits The Catholic Church Is Able To Collaborate To Help Development In NTT

The Vatican Ambassador to Indonesia, Mgr Piero Pioppo (second right), accompanied by Archbishop Petrus Turang (second left) and NTT Governor Viktor B Laiskodat/ANTARA

KUPANG - East Nusa Tenggara Governor Viktor B Laiskodat admitted that so far the Catholic Church and the NTT Provincial Government have collaborated well in development.

"We are grateful because this province is developing every day, of course it cannot because the government runs alone," said Viktor in his remarks at the 25th anniversary mass of the Archbishop of Kupang Mgr Petrus Turan as well as the celebration of his 75th birthday in Kupang, Antara, Wednesday 27 July.

He considered that with the collaboration between the local government and the church and other parties, the NTT Province has now developed towards a better place. So far, the Catholic Church has built many schools and colleges that produce students and students who are useful for development in NTT.

In terms of health, he said, thanks to good collaboration between the church and the government and other parties, the stunting rate in NTT fell from 42 percent to 22 percent from the number of stunting sufferers of 91 thousands of children in NTT.

"With this number, of course, we hope that it will continue to decline. But the government cannot work alone, because it needs the joint attention of all parties," he said.

In addition, thanks to the church, the poverty rate in NTT has also experienced a significant decline, which is around 37 thousand people. This happened in the midst of COVID-19, in the midst of a holy storm, then in the midst of the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus.

Ian added that in 2021 NTT's economic growth was at 2.51 percent from the previous contraction at 0.38 percent.

"So I want to say that this province is extraordinary. It did not have time to drop to 0.01 percent. This is because of the cooperation of all of us, both the church and other related parties," he added.

He said that to build this NTT needed tough leaders like Mgr Petrus Turang.

For him, the Archbishop of Kupang is a teacher, parent and friend because he has always provided input and advice for development in NTT.