Wamendes says village development in West Papua needs multi-stakeholder support

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister for Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration (Wamendes PDT) Ahmad Riza Patria views the development of villages in West Papua as requiring multi-stakeholder support, ranging from the central government, regional governments, to the private sector.

“Therefore, empowerment must be carried out with octahelix collaboration involving many stakeholders,” said the man commonly known as Ariza during a meeting between the Ministry of Villages and PDT and the Governor of West Papua, Dominggus Mandacan, at the Ministry’s offices in Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Wamendes Ariza also reminded that in building villages in West Papua, regional governments should not rely on budgets sourced from the APBN or APBD.

Currently, he said, development in the Papua region essentially faces a number of challenges, including related to geographic conditions and the existence of underdeveloped to very underdeveloped areas.

“There are three big problems faced by villages in Indonesia: human resources (SDM), infrastructure and financing access,” he said.

In line with that, Wamendes Ariza said the government has introduced various priority programs to accelerate village development.

“We are programming the strengthening of village economy based on local potential. In addition, there are programs in Education and Health,” he said.

He also stated that the West Papua Province is preparing a program to enhance the capacity of officials and village residents. In addition, there is also a program for infrastructure development in rural areas and the development of underdeveloped areas.

Meanwhile, Minister for PDT Yandri Susanto has stated that his side is ready to help accelerate village development in West Papua by maximizing the implementation of various programs, such as export villages.

“Now, villages can export directly through BUMDes,” he said.

Separately, Minister Yandri asked the West Papua Provincial Government to map in detail the potentials possessed by villages that can be developed and exported.