One Price Policy for Papua

President Joko Widodo's one price policy for fuel in Papua is an initiative that needs to be firmly controlled so it does not get out of hand. Since Indonesia's independence, people in Papua have never paid the same price for fuel as those in Java. Gasoline is 14 times more expensive than the official government price.

By imposing one price effective retroactively to August 17, Jokowi's initiative fulfils one of his campaign promises. After 71 years of independence, we now have a president who cares about needs of Papuans, specifically in obtaining fuel. But this could spin out of control because Pertamina will have to bear all the losses in enforcing this same price.