Profile of Velix Wanggai, Chairman of the Papua Development Acceleration Committee

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Velix Vernando Wanggai was appointed chairman of the Executive Committee for Accelerating the Development of Special Autonomy for Papua by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, in Jakarta, Wednesday (8/10).

The inauguration was based on the Decree of the President of the Republic of Indonesia (Keppres) Number 110/P of 2025 on the Appointment of the Executive Committee for Accelerating the Development of Special Autonomy for Papua.

Velix was appointed together with nine members of the Executive Committee for Accelerating the Development of Special Autonomy for Papua, namely John Wempi Wetipo, Ignatius Yogo Triyono, Paulus Waterpauw, Ribka Haluk, Ali Hamdan Bogra, Gracia Josaphat Jobel Mambrasar, Yanni, John Gluba Gebze and Juharson Estrella Sihasale.

The installation of the president and nine members of the Executive Committee for Accelerating the Development of Special Autonomy for Papua marks the government’s strategic step in accelerating just, equitable and sustainable development in the Land of Papua.

The Executive Committee for Accelerating the Development of Special Autonomy for Papua will also serve as a coordination bridge between the central government and the six provinces of Papua, ensuring that all development programs work in synergy and have a real impact on the Papuan people.

Velix said his agency will oversee eight major programs under Papua’s contextual ideals, which include political, economic, infrastructure and governance development.

In addition to this, Velix explained that this new institution, which has members with different backgrounds, will also take care of various socio-cultural aspects ranging from sports, gender equality, to the creative economy for the development of Papua.

Profile of Velix Vernando Wanggai

Velix Vernando Wanggai is a native Papuan. He was born in Jayapura on February 16, 1972. The figure of Velix Wanggai is no stranger to the public because he previously served as the interim governor of mountainous Papua from November 2023 to March 2025.

Velix studied from childhood until he grew up in Papua. He studied at SD Negeri Inpres Angkasa Jayapura, SMP Negeri 1 Jayapura and SMA Negeri 2 Jayapura Papua.

After graduating from high school in 1991, he immigrated to Yogyakarta to study at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) majoring in International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (Fisipol). Velix also continued his studies for a Master’s degree at Flinders University, Australia.

He is known to have earned a doctorate from the Australian National University (ANU) and a doctorate in International Relations from Padjadjaran University in 2017.

During his studies, he was also active in a number of organizational activities, including the Ansor Youth Movement (GP Ansor) when he was in high school in Jayapura, president of the Student Senate of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at UGM and even participating in the declaration of the establishment of the UGM Student Council. He was also active in various Islamic student organizations while studying in Yogyakarta.

Meanwhile, while studying in Australia, he was given the role of president of the Indonesian Students Association (PPI) in Australia from 2004 to 2006. Velix is known to be married to Herwin Meiliantina, a bureaucrat at the State Secretariat, and has four children.

Velix has long experience in managing development policies and regional autonomy. Velix began his career as a civil servant (PNS) at the National Agency for Development Planning (Bappenas) as a planning staff in the Directorate of Special Regions and Disadvantaged Regions.

In Bappenas, he was involved in various integrated regional development studies in Papua, such as in Sorong, Fakfak, Merauke, Jayapura and Jayawijaya, including involvement in the formulation of a policy for the allocation of 1% of funds from PT Freeport Indonesia for indigenous communities around Timika.

He was then appointed Special Staff to the President for Regional Development and Regional Autonomy under the 6th President of the Republic of Indonesia Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) from 2009 to 2014.

It is known that Velix was included in the PSSI 2015 transition team formed by the then Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Imam Nahrawi, however he decided to resign. He also held the position of Head of the Office for Public Communications at the Ministry of Public Works and Public Construction in the two-year period 2015-2016.

He was also head of Bappenas’ Center for Policy and Performance Analysis (PAKK) in 2020-2021 and senior staff to the Minister for Development and Infrastructure of Bappenas’ core sectors in 2021-2022.

Velix then served as Vice President for Government Policy and National Vision (PWK) of the Secretariat of the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia under the leadership of Vice President Ma’ruf Amin in 2022.

In 2023, he was appointed by Minister of Internal Affairs Tito Karnavian to become acting governor of mountainous Papua. At the end of 2024, he became Director General of Economic Development and Empowerment of Transmigration Communities at the Ministry of Transmigration.

Read also: Commission President: Prabowo pays great attention to Papua’s development

Read also: Prabowo appoints chairman and nine members of Papua Development Acceleration Committee

Read also: The youngest participant in the Patriot Expedition is a symbol of sustainable transmigration

Automatic retrieval of content, crawling or indexing by artificial intelligence on this website is strictly prohibited without written permission from ANTARA news agency.