MERAUKE. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said that the dreams and hopes of young generations and all of the country’s people that had been written and kept in a time capsule in Merauke, Papua, would never be realized if people did not strive to translate them into reality.

“It’s time for us to turn these hopes into reality,” said Jokowi in Merauke, the easternmost Indonesia territory, on Wednesday.

The time capsule, which was launched at kilometer zero in Sabang, Aceh, in October, traveled across 187 cities and 34 provinces before it arrived in Merauke, Papua. The time capsule will be opened in 2085, or 70 years from now.

President Jokowi wrote seven hopes on a piece of paper that was then put inside the time capsule. Two elementary school students from Merauke, Louis Ferdinand and Laher Fabiola, read out the seven hopes written on the paper before they, together with Jokowi, put the paper inside the capsule in a ceremony on Wednesday. The time capsule was then placed in a location marked with a monument at Hasanabsai field.

The seven points written down by the President comprised his hopes that Indonesia could have human resources that surpassed the intelligence levels in other nations; for an Indonesian society that upheld pluralism and adopted cultural values and that was pious and honorable; that Indonesia could become a center of education, technology and world civilization; and that Indonesia would have government agencies and a society that were free from corruption.

The three other hopes were that Indonesia would have infrastructure built evenly across the regions; that Indonesia would be independent and become an influential power in the Asia Pacific; and that Indonesia could become a barometer of international economic growth.

The placing of the time capsule at Hasanabsai field in Merauke was the start of a string of activities President Jokowi will carry out during his visit to Papua. In Merauke, the President also inaugurated the start of the construction of the Arafura Ocean fishing quay in Merauke, which will be 380 meters long and cost approximately Rp 700 billion (US$50.7 million). Construction will start in 2016 with initial funding of Rp 200 billion.

From Merauke, President Jokowi continued his working visit to Wamena in Jayawijaya regency, where he inaugurated Wamena Airport and Jayawijaya regency’s autonomous agency building.

Before he flies to West Papua on Thursday, President Jokowi is scheduled to observe the construction activities of roads, which will connect regencies in central and southern Papua, in Kenyam, the capital of Nduga regency.

In West Papua, President Jokowi will visit Sorong and mark New Year’s Eve in Raja Ampat regency.

“The President will witness the first sun rising in Indonesia in 2016 in Raja Ampat, West Papua,” said Kodam XVII/Cendrawasih commander Maj. Gen. Hinsa Siburian. (Nethy Dharma Somba)

Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie