Jakarta. Indonesia has deployed its military to help accelerate the long-delayed Trans Papua Road project, which has faced persistent setbacks due to security threats from armed groups in the region.
The partnership between the Public Works Ministry and the Indonesian Military (TNI) aims to complete the 4,330-kilometer road, which has been under construction since 2014 but has connected only 3,446 kilometers to date.
Major General Kristomei Sianturi, head of the TNI Information Center, said the main obstacle to the project’s completion is the threat posed by armed criminal groups (KKB), citing deadly attacks on construction workers, including the Istaka Karya case in 2018 that resulted in 19 casualties.
“The main challenge in developing the Trans Papua Road is security. It’s been widely reported, like in the Istaka Karya incident that led to deaths,” Kristomei said on Monday.
“Those who have the capability to ensure security are the TNI, working with the Public Works Ministry and others,” he added.
The Trans Papua Road project is backed by Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2020 on accelerating welfare development in Papua and West Papua, issued under former President Joko Widodo. The government now aims to complete the project under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.
Director General of Highways at the Public Works Ministry, Roy Rizali Anwar, said the TNI’s support will focus on building access roads in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost areas, including Papua and Kalimantan.
“Construction will target 11 priority locations. We will conduct surveys, calculate the budget needs, and allocate funding through the state budget according to the country’s financial capacity,” Roy said.
In the first quarter of 2024, the consortium of state-owned Hutama Karya and Hutama Karya Infrastruktur won the tender for the Trans Papua Road’s Jayapura–Wamena route, specifically the 50-kilometer Mamberamo–Elelim segment in Papua Highlands Province. The project will be executed under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.
Hutama Karya Executive Vice President Adjib Al Hakim said the project, which has been under study since September 2022, will require a capital expenditure of Rp 3.3 trillion. The concession period will span 15 years, including two years of construction and 13 years of maintenance.
July 22, 2025
JAKARTA – The administration has changed seven times since Papua’s official integration into the Republic in 1969, but the old stories of poverty, marginalization and human rights abuses plaguing the natural resource-rich land have remained the same. While previous governments proved unable to offer a lasting solution to the Papua issue, President Prabowo has charged his novice deputy, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to make a difference.
Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said recently the President has decided to assign the Vice President to spearhead acceleration of development in Papua. To implement the agenda, Gibran will lead a special body mandated by the 2021 Papua Special Autonomy Law.
Speculation was rife that the Vice President would be required to work directly in Papua, effectively sidelining him from daily political dynamics in Jakarta. However, Yusril clarified that Gibran will not be stationed in Papua. Instead, only staff of the Special Agency for the Acceleration of Development of Special Autonomy for Papua will be based in the region, with the Vice President overseeing the efforts remotely.
Gibran’s mandate comes on the heels of mounting pressures from a group of retired military generals, many of them were Prabowo supporters in the 2014 and 2019 elections, for the House of Representatives to initiate a move to impeach the Vice President, citing his legally flawed nomination as Prabowo’s running mate in the 2024 election. The Constitutional Court changed the age limits for presidential and vice presidential candidates just to give Gibran, the eldest son of then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, a shot. The court justices were later found guilty of code of ethics violations.
While Prabowo is unlikely to support the motion, rumors of cracks between him and Gibran have spread since old posts from an account allegedly linked to Gibran between 2013 and 2019 surfaced on social media last year. Many of the posts contained insults and inappropriate remarks directed at Prabowo, who back then fought against Jokowi for presidency.
In fact, since taking office in October last year, President Prabowo has not clearly specified what he will delegate to his Vice President, who is constitutionally the second man in command of the state. Many believe the Papua stint will be the first major opportunity for Gibran to prove his doubters wrong.
However, the central question about the government’s new Papua initiative is not regarding Gibran’s presumed inadequacy. Previous vice presidents received the same mandate, but the problems characterizing Papua have continued unabated. The formation of a new agency that Gibran will oversee repeats the old top-down approach that has proven to be a failure.
It remains unclear whether the government has conducted meaningful public consultation involving various groups and tribes that have long been inhabiting Papua before it came up with the new body, which will focus on accelerating development in Papua.
The emphasis on development, too, is a simplification of the deeply rooted and complex history of injustice and underdevelopment in the region. Major infrastructure works were built during the Jokowi administration to fuel the local economy, but provinces in Papua remain the poorest in the country.
A significant amount of special autonomy funds has been allocated to Papua, yet they do not translate into improvement of Papuan people’s well-being. Corruption and misuse of these funds are believed to be rampant, thanks in part to the central government’s weak supervision.
Following the formation of new provinces, a move resembling the colonial divide and conquer strategy, the promises of quicker delivery of public services have largely been unfulfilled. Sporadic armed conflicts victimizing civilians remain, but popular yearning for peace in Papua appears elusive as the government keeps its security approach intact.
Without adequately addressing the fundamental problems of historical injustice, Papua will remain a burning issue. We can give Gibran the benefit of the doubt, but only if he convinces President Prabowo to pursue a humane and dignified path toward peace and welfare in Papua.
Speaking in Sorong, Southwest Papua, on Monday, Southwest Papua Governor Elisa Kambu said that his office has instructed the governments of one city and five districts in the province to move quickly to prepare land or sites for the development of Sekolah Rakyat.
“In principle, these schools will fall under the authority of district and municipal governments. Therefore, we have asked them to promptly prepare land,” he said, adding that the central and provincial governments will support the development of the schools.
Kambu informed that he had held a meeting with the Sorong mayor and district heads, during which all participants had expressed their readiness to advance the Sekolah Rakyat program through land provision.
However, he said that the provincial government has yet to receive documents listing proposed Sekolah Rakyat locations from local leaders.
Related news: West Papua eyes enhanced teacher quality, educational facilities
“We at the provincial government have received verbal reports and are now awaiting proposal documents, which we will forward to the central government. This is important to allow construction to begin immediately,” the governor informed.
He said that South Sorong district has informally proposed two prospective sites for Sekolah Rakyat, while Maybrat, Raja Ampat, Sorong, and Tambrauw have each suggested one location.
He added that the development of the Sekolah Rakyat is part of his administration’s strategy to accelerate equal access to education, which, in turn, can boost the school participation rate in Southwest Papua, especially in remote and underdeveloped areas.
School orientations for Sekolah Rakyat students were launched at 63 locations nationwide on July 14, 2025. Thirty-seven more sites will be readied by later this month to support the goal of opening 100 Sekolah Rakyat for the 2025–2026 academic year.
President Prabowo Subianto has initiated the Sekolah Rakyat program for children from families classified as poor or extremely poor based on National Socioeconomic Single Data (DTSEN).
The boarding school program aims to support the government’s poverty alleviation efforts by providing free, quality, and character and religious education at the elementary, junior high, and senior high school levels.
Related news: SW Papua wants to build state university to answer educational needs
Translator: Yuvensius L, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
