Sumringahnya (How Happy) Papua Inland CommunitiesPapua Inland Communities

Sumringahnya (How Happy) Papua Inland CommunitiesPapua Inland Communities

By riding a speed boat that reads Papua Star with a strength of 600 PK, I along with several colleagues visited three remote areas at once in Papua, namely Ohotya Village, Fanamo Village and Omawita.
.
The purpose of our visit to this area is to take a closer look at the activities of the population, especially in the economic, social, cultural and transportation sectors
.
I saw from the look on their faces, there was no resignation and no complaints even though they were in a very limited area. Instead they even show their fighting spirit to face the rigors of life by utilizing the results of the garden and the catch of fish.
.
They then told us that their lives were very different from their present lives. Previously they had difficulty in distributing the results of his efforts to the city area to be sold.
.
Although the results are many, but in the end it is just mere consumption and is wasted because of the difficulty of transportation access to channel it to the city.
.
However, thanks to the intervention of the main government since the Jokowi-JK administration for the past 5 years, which offered a variety of assistance primarily in the transportation sector, they were finally able to distribute their crops and fish smoothly.
.
Slowly but surely, finally they can improve their family's economy.
.
Some time ago, I also had the opportunity to visit the central market area in Papua, precisely in Mimika Regency.
.
While shopping for some necessities, I took the time to ask the Papuan Mothers about the changes they have felt since the government offered assistance in renovating the market and providing their transportation facilities and infrastructure from the village to the city. Almost all of them responded positively.
.
There are those who appreciate land transportation subsidies in the form of DAMRI Bus payment subsidies and there are those who appreciate market governance in the heart of Timika. This bus provides transportation services from several villages around Mimika such as Kampung Pigapu and Iwaka.
.
Benefits, can shorten their travel time in a trip to the market to sell their garden products in the form of bananas, guava, vegetables, cassava, to be sold to the main city in the Timika central market. Thanks to existing subsidies, people from the village can enjoy affordable transportation services.
.
It can be imagined if there is no DAMRI transportation to these villages, the profit from the sale is only a little because it runs out on the transportation costs of ojeg which is quite expensive.
.
Not only in the land and sea sector, at the Mozes Kilangin Airport in Timika Papua, there are several aircraft that provide flights to the interior which have been the center / point of Papua's logistics mobilization such as to Puncak Jaya, Bintang Mountains, Yahukimo, Intan Jaya, Tolikara, and Ilaga.
.
As it is known that air transportation is the only choice and becomes the backbone for people in the Papua Mountains.
.
It is realized that the air transportation sector has become the main support for development in Papua, which is almost 80% of its geographical area is mountains with an average altitude of 500 to more than 5,000 meters above sea level.
____
Author: Heriyanto Rantelino (Pemuda Timika, Papua)