Daniel Dersic (left) and Deerd Tabuni (Jubi)
Jayapura, 5/5 (Jubi) – The Ambassador of Switzerland, Daniel Dersic, visited Papua to hold talks with Governor Lukas Enembe and the provincial parliament on Monday (5/5).
Dersic said it was his first visit to Papua and the Switzerland Embassy would like to know more about the implementation of Special Autonomy in Papua.
“The purpose of my mission is to observe and to be in touch with the development in Papua, and to hear about the implementation of the Special Autonomy which is considered a failure by some Papuans. I also wanted to know further about the desire of the Papuan community for a dialogue between the Papuans and the Government of Indonesia,” Dersic said.
At the same place, the chairman of the Papua Representative Council (DPR Papua), Deerd Tabuni said the Special Autonomy scheme was the idea of Papuan people but their welfare had not improved.
“The development is only seen in the urban area. But in other remote areas such as at the coastal or mountain areas, people are still living in poverty though most of the revenue and income for the State is obtained from Papua, such as PT Freeport Indonesia,” he said.
He if the people of Papua had the opportunities to manage their own natural resources, they would not live in poverty and never entertain the idea of independence.
“The security situation in Papua is always changing. It’s uncertain. Sometimes shooting incidents occurred. It’s made us confused. And the police never arrest the perpetrators. It’s made us suspicious. (Jubi/Arjuna/rom)
