The Ratification Of The Law On The Establishment Of Southwest Papua Province, This Is The Reason And Goal

Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani (Photo from Antara)

YOGYAKARTA - The DPR ratified the Draft Law (RUU) on the Establishment of the Southwest Papua Province into law. The ratification was carried out at the DPR Plenary Meeting at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (17/11).

The ratification meeting was chaired by the Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani. In the Plenary Meeting, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian and representatives from the Ministry of Finance were also present. Guspardi Gaus, a member of Commission II from the PAN faction, read out the report to initiate the decision to ratify the Bill on the Establishment of the Southwest Papua Province.

"Can the Bill on the Formation of Southwest Papua Province be approved and passed into law?" said Puan Mahari at the DPR Plenary Meeting.

Agreed, the answers of all members of the Indonesian House of Representatives who attended were accompanied by applause.

After the ratification of the Bill on the establishment of the Southwest Papua Province, Indonesia officially has a new province, namely West Papua Province and the capital city in Sorong. The number of provinces in Indonesia has increased to 38.

Southwest Papua Province Coverage

Southwest Papua Provinces have several areas, namely Sorong City, Sorong Regency, Raja Ampat Regency, South Sorong Regency, Tambrauw Regency, and Mamberamo Regency.

The purpose of ratifying the Law on the Formation of Southwest Papua

Tito Karnavian, Minister of Home Affairs, said that the expansion of West Papua Province was carried out to even out human development in the area, which is currently still lagging behind.

"We hope that the establishment of a new province in Southwest Papua will accelerate development because we see that the human development index is quite lagging behind and also its very large area and infrastructure that still needs to be accelerated to be developed," said Tito.

Guspardi conveyed the purpose of establishing the New Province of Southwest Papua, "With the approval of the Bill on the Establishment of the Province of Southwest Papua, we hope that the special autonomy policy for Papua Province can not only overcome conflict problems, but can also accelerate development in West Papua Province."

The expansion of the new province in Papua is based on Article 93 of Government Regulation Number 106 of 2021 concerning the Authority and Institution for the Implementation of Special Autonomy Policies for Papua Province.

Furthermore, Gupardi said that the goal of expanding can be accelerated in the eradication of development, improvement of public services, and community welfare in the area. Guspardi expressed his gratitude to all parties who have assisted in the process of discussing the bill.

Three New Autonomous Regions in Indonesia

Previously, the government had inaugurated three new autonomous regions (DOB) in Papua. The three regions are Central Papua Province, South Papua Province, and Papua Mountains Province.

The inauguration of the DOB was carried out on Friday (11/11) symbolically by the Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian on behalf of President Joko Widodo. The expansion of three new provinces in Papua has been agreed upon by the government and the DPR.

This is the ratification of the Law on the Establishment of Southwest Papua Province. With the new provinces in Papua, the number of provinces in Indonesia has now increased by one to 38.

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