The high prices of goods in Papua is some of the problems that the Papuan people have to face everyday. President Joko Widodo himself is aware of these problems. He has already addressed some of the problems, such as the high cement price in Papua. The challenging transportation access is one of the cause of the problems. Therefore, the government has now built more transportation infrastructures. By building that, it is hoped that the transportation of goods will be easier and the prices will be stabilized.

To address the problems of cement price in Papua, President Joko Widodo has already conveyed his concerns regarding the high price. Cement price in Papua can reach around 800,000 IDR/sack- 2.5 million IDR/sack, compared to Java which is only around 70 thousand IDR/sack. Hence, he wants the to decrease the cement price in Papua to be the same as in Java.

One of the causes of the high cement price in Papua is because of the pricey transportation cost. They need around 15 thousand IDR per 1 kg of cement to be transported to, for instance, Wamena. Hence, for 50 kg/sack of cement itself, the transportation cost to Wamena is around 750 thousand IDR. Hence, to ensure the cement price in Papua is the same as Java, the high transportation cost must be solved.

To solve the transportation cost of the goods in Papua, one of the solution is through Sea Toll. After the goods have arrived in the port, they will distribute it using airplane. The airplane distribution of the goods can reach remote places in Papua. Hence, developments are needed in this area of transportation.

There are also on going and completed developments of expanding the runway of airports in remote places of Papua. This is aimed to accommodate bigger airplanes to land in Papua. By using bigger planes to transport the goods, they can then transport more goods. By transporting more goods, they hope that the cement price in Papua can be lower.

They will also cooperate with a company from China to invest and establish a cement industry in Papua. Anhui Conch Cement Co. Ltd. through PT Conch Cement Indonesia (CCI) already said that they are interested in building a cement industry in Manokwari. The cement industry is going to be the first cement industry that is being built Papua.

By building better transportation infrastructure and building a cement industry in Papua, it is expected that the cement price in Papua can be the same as in Java. Therefore, developments and constructions can be easily accommodated.




Papua = Indonesia