Papua Tengah DPRP Member Criticises Vice President Gibran's Visit
Member of the Papua Tengah Provincial Legislative Council Nancy Raweyai has criticised Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s visit to Papua Tengah on 20-22 April 2026. Nancy questioned the results of the visit, particularly its impact on resolving conflicts in several areas of Papua.
According to her, Gibran’s visit has not yet shown a significant policy direction for Papua Tengah, which is a new autonomous region. “We hope for strategic steps that truly address the fundamental issues in Papua, not just ceremonial visits,” she stated in a written statement on Wednesday, 22 April 2026.
Nancy assessed that Gibran has not yet shown attention to several crucial issues such as education, health, and conflict handling. However, she said, this official visit by the eldest son of former President Joko Widodo should be able to produce policies for handling security conflicts in Papua Tengah.
“I expect policy interventions for conflict handling from this visit. The escalation of conflicts that continues to occur and their adverse impacts on the sustainability of people’s lives, with the number increasing continuously reaching thousands,” she stated.
In addition, Nancy also highlighted the latent problem of transportation which burdens the community. For example, the high prices of goods due to difficult transportation access or soaring air ticket prices.
She urged the central government to formulate policies to address these issues. “These substantial matters that impact the community must be the essence to be addressed by the Vice President during his visit,” she stated.
Nancy also touched on the distribution of books and writing materials carried out by Gibran during the visit. She assessed that this is not the primary duty of a vice president, but can be done by the local government.
Nancy hopes that visits by state officials to Papua can be more focused on strategic solutions and concrete policies to address regional issues. “We thank the Vice President for visiting us in Papua Tengah, we await the next visit with policy certainty that favours the people of Papua Tengah,” she stated.
On Monday, 20 April 2026, Gibran inspected the development of Douw Aturure Airport in Nabire Regency, Papua Tengah. Citing a statement from the Vice Presidential Secretariat, this visit was aimed at ensuring the readiness of air transportation infrastructure to support community mobility and regional economic growth.
During the inspection, Gibran emphasised the importance of accelerating the development of Douw Aturure Airport. “To be able to match the increasing air transportation needs in Papua Tengah,” stated the Vice Presidential Secretariat.
This former politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) encouraged synergy between the central and regional governments to ensure that airport infrastructure development runs optimally. This infrastructure development is expected to improve inter-regional connectivity, facilitate logistics distribution, and open up economic and investment opportunities for the local community.
Gibran’s activities were described as part of the implementation of President Prabowo Subianto’s directives on accelerating strategic infrastructure development. “Especially air connectivity in eastern Indonesia, as an effort to promote equitable development and open access to remote areas,” wrote the Vice Presidential Secretariat.