Jayapura, Jubi – Mukry M Hamadi, Chairman of Commission A of the Jayapura City Council, emphasized the necessity for the Jayapura City Administration to have detailed information regarding the number and status of Indigenous Papuans.
“The government must compile data on Indigenous Papuans,” he stated in Jayapura City on Thursday (7/12/2023).
Hamadi stressed the importance of this, saying that having this data would enable the Jayapura City Administration to understand their circumstances more effectively.
“The data, owned by the Jayapura City Administration, will shed light on the conditions of Papuans in this city. It will detail what the Papuans are eating, the condition of their homes, their education, access to healthcare, and their economic situation,” he elaborated.
Hamadi recalled that in 2022, an allocation of Rp 3.5 billion was set aside for the census of Indigenous Papuans. However, he noted that the census program could not be executed by the Jayapura City Office of Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
“The program and budget were in place. The issue is simple—how to utilize the funds and who should be responsible. We argued about this, but the BPS could not manage it in the end. There was a dispute at that time,” he explained.
According to Hamadi, the data on Indigenous Papuans is crucial to ensure that the Special Autonomy Program remains on target. In addition, the local government is obligated to establish a database of students, including Indigenous Papuan students, therefore the availability of such data will serve as the foundation for providing quality educational services in Jayapura City.
“To keep the special autonomy program on track, we need that data that we currently do not have,” he emphasized. (*)
