The Governor of West Papua Proposes Southwest Papua Province

West Papua Governor Dominggus Mandacan supports the proposed expansion of the territory on the island of Papua. He then proposed Southwest Papua as one of the new provinces on Cenderawasih Island.

"Our agenda is indeed Southwest Papua. Yesterday they came to meet with Commission II to discuss this. In principle, we support it," said Dominggus on the sidelines of the Papua Development Conference at the JW Marriott Hotel, Kuningan, South Jakarta.

Dominggus said that the expansion of the Province of West Papua was previously stated in the Presidential Mandate (Ampres) on December 27, 2013 in the era of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). However, the plan was not completed during discussions with the Indonesian Parliament for the 2009-2014 period.

"If West Papua there is Southwest Papua, that has already been done, but just before the president at that time Pak SBY wanted to step down the DPR for that period, it was scheduled at Commission II to be discussed. "There is a moratorium, until today it has not been expanded," he said.

Dominggus said the central government's efforts to create a new province in Papua would give new hope to the people. He considered the expansion needed to accelerate development in Papua.

"Now it means that the central government has provided fresh air, the moratorium is about to be lifted. There is special attention because there is a level of difficulty that exists for us to accelerate development, there is also need for expansion," he concluded.

Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud Md said the proposed expansion of Papua and West Papua was still in the process of inventorying problems. Mahfud said the proposal was still immature.

"Yes, (the division of Papua) is still in the inventory process, the proposals are not yet ripe, they are immature and still raw," said Mahfud when met separately at the JW Marriott Hotel, Kuningan, South Jakarta.