Indonesia Officially Has 3 New Provinces

The draft law (RUU) related to regional expansion, namely three new provinces, was finally approved by the DPR. With the officialization of these three provinces, now Indonesia has a total of 37 provinces.

The three new provinces that were officially approved by the government came from Papua Island, namely South Papua Province, Central Papua Province, and Central Highlands Papua Province.

The bill was ratified by the Legislative Body (Baleg) of the DPR RI in a plenary meeting held on Wednesday (6/4/2022). In the plenary meeting, all factions in Baleg agreed to the bill on the three provinces.

“After we have listened to the opinions of all factions and agreed. Can the results of the harmonization of the Bill on the Provinces of South Papua, Central Papua, and Papua Central Mountains be approved?” asked Deputy Chairman of the DPR Baleg Achmad Baidowi in the meeting.

“Agreed,” answered the trial participants.

Furthermore, after the decision was made, Deputy Chairman of Commission II of the DPR Syamsurizal expressed his gratitude to all parties who assisted in the process of drafting the Bill for the three new provinces.

Meanwhile, Commission II is the proponent of the bill. Syamsurizal hopes that the bill on the new province in Papua can have a good impact on people’s lives in Papua.

During the meeting, a member of the DPR from the PDI-P faction, Selly Andrianygantina, gave a note.

Although his faction agreed to the bill for the three new provinces, he reminded us that the implementation of the law in the future must still refer to the constitution and laws related to Papua’s Special Autonomy.

“The PDI-P faction is of the view that the content of the Bill on the Province of South Papua, Central Papua, and Papua Province of the Central Mountains should remain within the implementation corridor in Article 18 paragraph 1 of the 1945 Constitution concerning the material content of the Law on Special Autonomy for Papua which has been discussed in the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. previous meetings” said Selly.

In addition, the PDI-P faction also emphasized that the division of the three provinces in Papua should pay attention to the aspirations of the local community.

Aspirations are needed to accelerate equitable development, improve public services, and improve community welfare, as well as elevate the dignity of the Papuan people.
Furthermore, the areas of the three new provinces include areas that were previously included in the territory of the Papua Province. Some of the coverage areas of the three new provinces are:

1. South Papua (Ha Anim):
   -The Capital City of Merauke,
   -Merauke Regency
   -Mappi Regency
   -Asmat Regency
   -Boven Digoel Regency
2. Central Papua (Meepago):
   -The Capital City of Timika,
   -Mimika Regency
   -Paniai Regency
   -Mimika Regency
   -Dogiyai Regency
   -Deyiai Regency
   -Intan Jaya Regency
   -Puncak Regency
3. Central Highlands Papua Province (Lapago):
   -The Capital City of Wamena,
   -Jayawijaya Regency
   -Puncak Jaya Regency
   -Jayawijaya Regency
   -Lanny Jaya Regency
   -Central Mamberamo Regency
   -Nduga Regency
   -Tolikara Regency
   -Yahukimo Regency
   -Yalimo Regency