Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - Agustinus Donald Ohee, a tribal leader from Jayapura District, Papua Province, lauded President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) for paying serious attention to the development of all sectors in the Indonesian easternmost province.

"President Jokowis recent visit to Papua for several days was viewed as part of his commitment to improving the welfare of the indigenous people of Papua," Ohee remarked here on Monday.

To this end, he noted that the Papua tribal community would reciprocate the presidents gesture through enthusiasm and hard work.

"The indigenous people of Papua, especially the chiefs, will be in one accord and join hands to support the development in Papua," he affirmed.

Over the weekend, President Jokowi was in Papua to conduct the groundbreaking ceremony of the Mama-Mana cultural market in Jayapura, the capital of the province.

To be built on a four thousand-square-meter plot of land in the Jayapura city center, the market is expected to support local economic development.

"I urge the relevant ministers to complete the construction of the market in a short period of time," President Jokowi remarked in his speech at the time.

He said the government was making efforts to build the Mama-Mama market quickly without flouting any rules.

During the visit, President Jokowi also inaugurated the Depapre Port in Jayapura District as one of the sea toll gateways in East Indonesia.

"This will be a great seaport and will be interconnected with the medium and small port hubs," President Jokowi stated here, Saturday.

The president emphasized that the inauguration of Depapre Port, as a sea toll gateway, was expected to help ship out Papuas products without the need to transition at other sea ports.

"Therefore, we expect that Papuas products can be sent directly to the destination country without having to ship the goods to the ports of Makassar or Surabaya first," the president explained.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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