Independence Reaches Remote Malinau

The 81st Anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia carries the theme ‘Indonesia Berdaulat, Adil, dan Makmur’ (Sovereign, Just, and Prosperous Indonesia). Malinau Regent Wempi W. Mawa interprets this theme as a reminder that every citizen has an equal right to obtain services and enjoy the fruits of development. ‘Infrastructure is a basic need for everyone. Therefore, we are obliged to facilitate it so that the community, including those living in remote areas, can experience equitable and just development,’ said Regent Wempi in Jakarta on Tuesday, 28 July 2026.

Entering his second term leading Malinau Regency, Wempi has translated this commitment into five priority programmes as a manifestation of the state’s presence for the community. These programmes are designed to strengthen regional sovereignty, improve citizens’ welfare, and ensure fair and equitable development. The first and flagship programme is the Healthy Agriculture Programme (PESAT). ‘This programme not only provides employment, opportunities, education, and innovation to the young generation of Malinau through the PESAT Task Force, but also guarantees food security and keeps inflation in check by producing agricultural products according to regional mapping,’ said Wempi.

Second is the Malinau Maju Compulsory Education Programme. Through this programme, Regent Wempi provides a guarantee in accordance with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution that education is the right of all Indonesian people. ‘The state must be present, obliged to fulfil and facilitate it. We are present with a programme that guarantees all children attending school in Malinau, within our authority, that there are no fees,’ he said. All required school equipment for students is provided free of charge or directly assisted by the regional government, including uniforms, shoes, socks, books, stationery, and other school supplies allocated in the Malinau Regency Regional Budget (APBD).

Furthermore, Regent Wempi continued, the regency government also assists senior high school and vocational high school students in Malinau so that they receive the same justice. ‘Although senior high school level is not the regent’s authority, they are our children who must not drop out of school,’ he said.

Third is the Excellent Village Graduate Programme to meet the need for quality human resources in villages. In this second term, Regent Wempi explained that the focus is not only on fulfilling quality human resources in every village, but also on equipping graduates with additional skills and an entrepreneurial spirit so that they become independent skilled village workers after completing their service period. Currently, nearly 3,000 children in Malinau Regency have their university education funded by the APBD. According to Wempi, they are an investment in superior human beings for the future. ‘A village can be advanced, prosperous, and independent. Therefore, its people must first be empowered. They must be given knowledge, spirit, and confidence that they should be proud to be part of the community there and can prosper with all the existing potential. We realise this human resource improvement through the Village Graduate Programme,’ he said.

Fourth is the Independent Millennial Programme, which provides free training from the Malinau Regency Government for youth, covering technical skills, business, and cultivation. With this coaching, participants will eventually be able to become independent with the skills they pursue. ‘We also encourage capital assistance or through corporate social responsibility (CSR) so that they are able to create jobs,’ he said.

Fifth is Malinau Satu Data with the Malinau Smart Government Programme. This programme aims to strengthen transparent and integrated governance. ‘This data can be accessed by the public. Thus, it can be seen what regional apparatus organisations are working on, how their achievements are progressing, and so on,’ he said.

Regent Wempi emphasised that these five programmes are capable of reducing poverty rates, lowering unemployment, and improving the economy of Malinau Regency. ‘These are the five programmes that I am running and I am confident these programmes can answer the needs of the Malinau community,’ he said. ‘We guarantee that all programmes run transparently and openly through Malinau Satu Data.’

All of this is being done by Regent Wempi because he wants the generation of Malinau Regency to eventually become masters in their own land. ‘We want to ensure that our human resources are able to compete with workers who come to this country,’ he said.

Good and superior human resources, said Regent Wempi, will eventually be able to solve the problem of poverty and utilise existing potential. ‘Quality human resources are the answer for a Golden Indonesia, a strong Indonesia, a prosperous Indonesia, with superior people. And my aspiration is to deliver that,’ he said.

Regent Wempi continued that whoever leads Malinau Regency will already have ready human assets. ‘Because the best investment is investment in people themselves. And that is my hope for the next generation,’ he said. ‘I have a dream that one day the people of Malinau will not be a burden, but rather a solution for this nation.’

For Regent Wempi, the meaning of 81 years of Indonesian independence is how to achieve something that is everyone’s dream. ‘Everyone’s dream can be realised by providing certainty and stability. There is no success if a country is not conducive. Therefore, the state must be present to ensure that everyone can be safe and comfortable,’ he said.

Independence, Regent Wempi added, means the freedom to express hopes, as well as the awareness to carry out duties and responsibilities as citizens. He emphasised that independence is the right of every nation, which is realised through the fulfilment of people’s basic rights, from the right to life, to obtain employment, to receive health services, to express opinions.