TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Minister for National Development and Planning Agency Armida Alisjahbana says that based on recent research, West Papua remains Indonesia’s poorest region.
"The level of poverty in Papua is 31.11 percent. The national poverty rate is currently 11.96 percent," Armida said at the Ministry of National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), on Monday.
One of the factors is connectivity as development in Papua is hindered by logistical difficulties.
Another factor is its isolation. Several areas are very isolated so economic growth is not evenly distributed.
"In Papua, prosperous regions are closer to the coastal areas. In
mountain areas, poverty rates are still high. Welfare there needs to be
equally distributed and that’s what the government’s trying to do," said
Armida.
When asked how to solve the problem of poverty in Papua, Armida said the
government has prepared a program called MP3KI or a Master Plan for the
Acceleration and Expansion of Poverty Reduction. It seeks to address
the problem of poverty at the national level by promoting infrastructure
development, rural industrialization and development activities.
Armida said last week that Bappenas had prepared a map of the
construction of new infrastructure projects in the eastern region,
particularly for Papua. For example, the construction of infrastructure
such as airports and seaports that will help solve the connectivity
problem.
ISTMAN MP