JAYAPURA (February 6th, 2024) – Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini visited Jayapura, Papua, on Tuesday (6/2). Following up on her visit in 2023, the Minister kept her promise to hand over four units of double cabin four-wheeled emergency vehicles to religious institutions in Papua.

The four institutions receiving the assistance were the Evangelical Christian Church (GKI), the Evangelical Church in Indonesia (GIDI), and Jayapura Diocese, as well as the Evangelical Tent Church (Kingmi) in Papua land. The total value of the assistance provided reached IDR 2.23 billion, sourced from grant funds.

This emergency vehicle assistance was a supporting tool to transport and distribute logistics from social warehouses to various locations when a disaster occurred. Social granaries were built at several points, including at churches in mountainous areas that were disaster-prone locations, so that they could speed up the distribution of aid when a disaster occurred.

“We provide aid through the church since it is very close to community housing and we leave the buffer stock at the church. For this reason, the car assistance was handed over to the church so that logistical assistance could be quickly distributed to the community," said the Minister to the leaders and administrators of dioceses and churches in Papua.

Various goods are available in social warehouses in Papua so that when a disaster occurs, logistical needs do not need to be sent from Jayapura or Jakarta.

The Head of Jayapura Diocese, Yanuariustai Theofilus Matopai You, expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Social Affairs' assistance for the emergency vehicles which can be used by the community. Since the vehicle is now available, the distribution time for goods can be shortened and people don't need to walk for 2-3 days anymore to get logistical assistance.

"We are very, very happy and grateful because this assistance directly meets the needs of the community, without going through complicated procedures, the Minister of Social Affairs handed over the assistance directly to Papua," said Yanuar.

According to the Minister, the assistance provided was adapted to the requests and the needs of the community in each region so the goods were probably different. However, the goods available were following the needs and food habits of the community so that they were beneficial for the people in each location.

Public Relations Bureau
Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs