Manokwari, West Papua (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin will embark on a month-long work visit to Papua to observe development projects in the region, according to the Papua Special Autonomy Development Acceleration Steering Committee (BP3OKP).

"After his 80th birthday, the vice president will work in the Papuan region," BP3OKP representative Irene Manibuy stated here, Wednesday (February 8). Amin will turn 80 on March 11, 2023.

She explained that Amin, as the BP3OKP chairperson, will undertake working visits to six Papuan provinces of Papua, West Papua, Southwest Papua, Central Papua, Highland Papua, and South Papua.

"He is expected to arrive in Papua after Eid al-Fitr," she noted while referring to the Muslim holiday expected to fall next April.

The government remains committed to overseeing development in Papua, including through repeated working visits made by President Joko Widodo and Amin, with the intention to work from the province for a month, Manibuy affirmed.

Meanwhile, she said that the establishment of new autonomous provinces in Papua affected budget allocation in the residual Papua province.

"The budget for the residual (Papua) province is declining. This is only the start, as the central government continues the adjustment," the agency representative remarked.

To achieve development goals in Papua and address all emerging issues, regional authorities, from the provincial to the municipal and district authorities, must synergize with the central government, she stressed.

"Moreover, (acting governor of West Papua) Mr Paulus Waterpauw has been appointed as the head of the Association of Papuan Governors," Manibuy noted.

The agency representative also urged residents in the Papua land to perceive the establishment of new provinces as the central government's measure to alleviate the regional authorities' ineffective span of control and to bring prosperity for the Papuan people.  


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