Jokowi tries harder with restive Papua after spending billions

This handout picture taken and released on Oct 27, 2019 by the Indonesian Presidential Palace shows President Joko Widodo during a traditional Papuan welcome as he arrives in Arfak, West Papua.

JAKARTA (Bloomberg): Indonesian President Joko Widodo's government spent US$11 billion over seven years in two of the poorest but resource-rich provinces in the country to win over the locals.

Now he is trying even harder in an often-restive region that has been marred by separatist protests. Jokowi, as the president is known, toured the easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua this past week.