West Papua Governor Meets Airlangga to Discuss Gold Mining

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto stated that sustainable management of natural resources is the government’s focus to drive inclusive economic growth while preserving the environment and ensuring legal certainty. According to him, synergy between central and local governments is needed so that community economic activities run legally, safely, and add value to the region. “We need to encourage comprehensive solutions, both in terms of law enforcement and ensuring that communities have space to work legally, safely, and sustainably,” Airlangga said in an official statement on Friday, 10 April 2026. This statement was delivered by Airlangga during his meeting with West Papua Governor Dominggus Mandacan on Friday, 10 April 2026. In the meeting, Dominggus conveyed the dynamics of community gold mining activities in several areas, including river basins, slopes, and hills. These activities are seen to have economic potential but face challenges in legality, spatial planning compliance, forestry aspects, and protection of indigenous communities. According to Dominggus, these issues are a shared concern that requires further coordination between central and local governments. The West Papua Provincial Government, he said, has prepared several regulatory steps, including the preparation of derivative regulations from the Special Autonomy Law, although their implementation is still considered to need acceleration. In particular, on technical regulations and cross-ministerial/institutional coordination. Airlangga responded that the government will encourage strengthened synergy across ministries/institutions and local governments to respond to these dynamics while still paying attention to sustainability, legal certainty, and community welfare. Airlangga mentioned that coordination will be carried out with relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Environment, and ministries handling spatial planning. In addition to people’s mining issues, the meeting also discussed the economic conditions in West Papua, which showed growth of 6.46 percent in 2025, driven by the processing industry and mining sectors. The government views the natural resource potential in West Papua as needing to be managed more optimally to contribute more significantly to regional development and community welfare.