Papua allocates Rp 2.6 trillion for development projects

Papua allocates Rp 2.6 trillion for development projects

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua

The Papuan administration has allocated Rp 2.6 trillion (US$295
million) for the funding of 848 construction projects, all of
which must be completed during the remaining eight months of this
fiscal year.

Of this figure, the central government contributed Rp 1.3
trillion, which will be used mostly for projects designed to
improve transportation infrastructure, education, social welfare
and agriculture.

The rest of the development budget will be financed out of
provincial revenue, and will be used to finance 720 projects,
mostly in the education, health and poverty eradication sectors.

Papua received only Rp 851 million for its development budget
from the central government last year, with the rest of the
budget being financed by Rp 1.25 trillion in own-source revenues.

Governor JP Salossa warned local government officials and
project executives on Monday against failing to fulfill their
responsibilities.

"I hope that all personnel involved in these projects will
remain determined and carry out their duties, which include
planning, executing, monitoring and evaluating the projects,"
Salossa said upon receiving the project proposals from Tribuwono
Tunggal, the head of the Directorate General of Budgeting's
provincial office.

He called on officials to work together as a team so as to
ensure the success of the projects, which will benefit people in
the resource-rich but less developed province.

Papua is home to 2.4 million mostly poorly educated people, as
well as one of the world's largest gold mines.

Provincial legislative council speaker John Ibo stressed that
the projects must be completed on time.

"They must be completed punctually without having to
compromise on quality as it is the people who must benefit, not
the project officers," Ibo said.