After 16 Hours on KM Cantika, Papua Gubernatorial Candidate BTM Does Early Morning Shopping and Listens to Constituents' Aspirations in Teba, Mamberamo Raya

VOICE OF JAYAPURA - After a 16-hour sea journey from Jayapura City using KM Cantika 77, Candidate for Governor of Papua number 1, Benhur Tomi Mano (BTM), finally arrived at Teba Village Port, Mamberamo Raya Regency on Thursday, June 19, 2025 at dawn.

Stepping off the ship with his wife, Kristina Luluporo Mano, BTM immediately greeted and mingled with the villagers who had been waiting for him since morning.

The moment of their arrival was seized by BTM to shop from the Papuan mom-and-pop stores lined up around the dock. From clams (bia), tubers, traditional cakes to sago paste, this couple bought everything.

"Thank you Mr. BTM. This is an extraordinary blessing for us this morning. Our goods are all sold out," said Mama Somalena, one of the traders who sells clams with a joyful face.

Not only shopping, BTM also made time to have direct conversations with the residents of Kampung Teba, listening to their complaints and aspirations directly.

Several issues raised by the residents include lack of clean water access, absence of electricity, difficulty in obtaining telecommunication signals, as well as obstacles in marketing fisherman's catches such as fish and shellfish.

"We here have difficulty accessing clean water, no electricity, and signals are also poor. Fish and shellfish are hard to sell because there's no one to buy them," said Fernando Inggimamba, a local resident.

The same aspiration was expressed by Daniela Umalan, a member of the GKI Teba congregation, who hopes that the government will build a high school in that village.

While Rosa Naomi Konyanan, a contract teacher at SD Inpres Warembori, admits to having served for more than 15 years but has still not been appointed as a civil servant (ASN).

In responding to the various aspirations, BTM conveyed that all problems have solutions.

I will give an example of another region that has been able to treat dirty water to make it suitable for consumption, as well as incorporating the addition of BTS as part of the priority program.

"The addition of telecommunications BTS is already included in the BTM-CK program," he explained.

"If the issue with marketing involves fish or shellfish, they can actually be collected and purchased by the government to be distributed to malls and supermarkets. As a leader, it is mandatory to find solutions for the residents," BTM added explaining.

I also emphasized that the Special Autonomy (Otsus) funds moving forward will be used purely to address the needs of the people. ***