According to 2016 data from the Indonesian Statistics Agency (BPS), Papua is the region of Indonesia with the highest rate of poverty, with 28.5% of the population living below the poverty line. Nonetheless, the provincial government of Papua has decided the best use of their resources would be to allocate Rp 300 billion to 500 billion (~$22.6 million to $37.6 million) of their budget over the next few years to build an enormous statue of Jesus Christ at the top of Puncak Gunung Swajah in the city of Jayapura, which they intend to make the largest of its kind in the world.
“The statue will be international-class, truly the most magnificent in the world,” said Papua’s Head of Public Works, Djuli Mambaya, in Jayapura today as quoted by Detik.
Mambayan said they planned to make the statue about 50-67 meters in height with a base of 100 meters. This would make it far taller than the world-famous “Christ the Redeemer” statue in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, which stands 30 meters tall (not including the 8-meter tall base), as well as the “Christ of Peace” statue in Bolivia, which is 34.2 meters in height. There is also the “Jesus Blesses” statue in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, that is 23 meters in height with a 17-meter tall base.
“We will build an elevator in the statue of Jesus Christ, like the one in Jakarta’s Monumen Nasional, in order to see the entire city of Jayapura through the eyes of Jesus,” said Mambaya.
The provincial government is preparing 6 hectares of land for the project. On Saturday, a team conducted a survey by airplane.
Officials say the statue is expected to become a new icon and tourist destination for Jayapura.
However, the giant Jesus statue plans are far from finalized. Preparations have been done and a location has been chosen, but the provincial government is still waiting for approval from the regional parliament. Hopefully, they’ll consider very carefully if this is really the best use of funds for the beleaguered region.
