Mimika Community Lacks Education and Healthcare

By Barrie | May 20th, 2007 | No Comments

The Mimika regency administration was established seven years ago, but the area is still plagued by social, development and administrative problems, says a local district head. West Mimika district head M. Metulessi says prospects of education and health are gloomy in Mimika regency and its remote districts.

The people in West Mimikia’s capital, Kokonao, were previously provided with good education and health care by Catholic missionaries, but this no longer exists. Both problems have become the most pressing issues faced by the Kokonao people.

Hundreds of Kokonao children no longer go to school due to the closure of an elementary school. And improvements in the education sector in the district, promised by the government through relevant agencies, has never been realized.

One of the state-run elementary schools in Ipaya village has closed, depriving hundreds of school-aged children of an education.

Most of the programs initiated by the Mimika administration have not been effective, such as the Kokonao Senior High School which had not been running according to plan. Many students who do have not earned junior high school certificates are allowed to attend classes.

In the health sector, many people living in the villages in West Mimika regency suffer from poor health due to the inadequate medical services provided by the local health and family planning office. Most of the equipment in the Kokonao community health center is out of order.

Auxiliary health clinics are also not running well due to damaged facilities. Many of the houses occupied by medical staff are also damaged, forcing most of them to move to Timika city.

Development has also not benefited people in West Mimika district, where most residents still lack proper housing. They have never had access to a clean water supply and or electricity like those living in Timika.

West Mimika district head M. Matulessi, who has only been in the post for two months, expressed concern that development in West Mimika had not involved the people. He said he believed it was the mistake of past administrations.

“There are a series of problems that I must address. The Kokonao people are deprived of proper housing, lighting and clean water.
“I promise I will run the administration well and address the problems faced by people in rural areas. I’ve toured one village and another and found out that residents are facing the same problems,” said Matulessi.

He said the agencies related to the education and health sectors had never visited people in Kokonao and development programs had been carried out without tight supervision.

Many issues relating to rural development apparently involved traditional rights, but the government and people needed to sit together and find a solution to accelerate progress in education and health, he said.

He added the regency administration had failed to implement community-based development programs, most of which had gone to waste and did not reach the people, and that health programs should involve the district administration for closer supervision.

In response to the problems faced by West Mimika district, head of Mimika Education Office Ausilius You said every element of society needed to be involved to resolve the education problem. He said that one of the two elementary schools in Kokonao was closed due to a lack of staff.

“I have never toured remote areas due to the harsh geographical nature of the regency. I only get reports from school principals. The office has planned the programs well but the implementation was not effective and must be improved further,” he said.

Head of the Mimika Health and Family Planning Office Erens Meokbun also acknowledged he had never been to remote areas in West Mimika district and therefore was less aware of the real situation. He received reports from heads of community health centers in remote Mimika.

Metulessi said construction of official houses for health workers was still going on while renovation work on the Kokonao health center was completed.

However, the local health office is still facing a shortage of medical staff to serve people in remote areas of Papua. Kokonao now has a health center and four auxiliary clinics.

“We often provide medical care directly to people in remote areas living far away from community health centers by mobile clinics and plan to add medical equipment, especially in remote areas,” said Meokbun.

The Mimika Health and Family Planning Office will be provided with Rp 10 billion from the provincial budget to build community health centers and fund contagious disease eradication, medical services in remote areas, mother and child care and nutrition improvement programs.

Mimika regency council member Ivodius Yeuyanan has criticized the Mimika regency administration for not working at its maximum strength and has said that a string of problems left by previous administrations has turned Mimika, which is rich in natural resources, into a grim and rural backwater.

“What is happening in Mimika regency is ironic since the regency is rich in natural resources and known worldwide for its gold, silver and copper mine, which contributes much money to local revenue. But the administration’s management is so poor. The administration has no clear development concept,” he said.

Markus Makur