The Games, which took place in a number of venues in and around Jayapura, as well as in the regencies of Mimika and Merauke, was opened on Oct. 2 after a year’s delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 7,000 athletes participated in the quadrennial event, some of whom had arrived a week before the opening ceremony in Jayapura for preliminary matches.

The 20^th PON will be followed by the National Paralympic Games on Nov. 2-15, which will also be held in Papua. For the next PON in 2024, meanwhile,  Aceh and North Sumatra will take up the baton from Papua as the first provinces to cohost the games.

Successful games

Speaking at PON's closing ceremony on Friday, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin lauded the Papua administration and local communities for the smooth running of the “historic” games, which had been bogged down by logistical challenges, such as the massive infrastructure development required to hold the games and the multifarious safety measures required to ensure the safety of all parties involved amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For me, this was the most challenging PON ever to be held,” Ma’ruf said in Lukas Enembe Stadium in Jayapura on Friday, to the cheers of the audience. “It turns out that not only Papuans are able to hold [the national games] but they were also able to hold it perfectly.”

The success of the 20^th PON showed that Papua could eclipse other provinces in the country, Ma’ruf said, adding that the successful organization of the games also reflected the nation’s spirit of solidarity, unity and sportsmanship.

As of Thursday, local authorities had detected 125 COVID-19 cases. Papua COVID-19 task force spokesman Silwanus Sumule said they were all asymptomatic, tribunnews.com reported on Friday.

National COVID-19 task force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito previously said officials and athletes who had participated in the games were required to self-isolate upon  returning home to prevent the potential spread of the virus.

More than just a sporting event

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher Adriana Elisabeth said the PON in Papua symbolized President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s commitment to developing the region.

“It also served to underscore that Papua is part of Indonesia,” she said.

She added, however, that the success of the games should not take the government’s focus away from the fact that it needed to resolve security issues in restive Papua and West Papua, and called for a dedicated mechanism to resolve the conflict between the government and rebel groups — officially labeled as armed criminal groups (KKB).

The government deployed around 9,000 police and military personnel to secure the national games because of a recent strings of clashes between authorities and KKBs.

On Sept. 26, a joint team of police and military personnel engaged in a shootout with a rebel group in Kiwirok district, Pegunungan Bintang regency. A police officer was killed in the incident.

The clash followed nearly a dozen incidents occurring in Papua and West Papua this year alone, including the tragic death of nurse Gabriella Meilani on Sept. 13 in a rebel attack on public services in Kiwirok.

Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) researcher Rozy Brilian echoed Adriana's sentiments, saying that the national games did not automatically dismiss “systemic problems” in Papua and West Papua. The government, he added, should see the PON as a starting point to change its development approach in the restive provinces.

“With the [success of] PON, the government should change its paradigm to be more humanistic in seeing the problems in Papua and open room for dialogues to with Papuan communities using a human rights-centered approach,” said Rozy.

Despite the challenges of staging the games amid a pandemic and security concerns, the PON was still able to award its new champions, with West Java topping the medals tally after securing 133 gold, 105 silver and 115 bronze medals.

Jakarta and East Java followed in second and third place, respectively, while host province Papua came in fourth after winning 93 gold, 66 silver and 102 bronze medals.

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