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Natural challenges in Papua development

The development of roads in border areas in the easternmost part of Indonesia, Papua province, still faces natural challenges, such as extreme geographical contours and difficult landscape, which have become an obstacle for authorities to access the areas

Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, September 22, 2018

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Natural challenges in Papua development

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he development of roads in border areas in the easternmost part of Indonesia, Papua province, still faces natural challenges, such as extreme geographical contours and difficult landscape, which have become an obstacle for authorities to access the areas.

Such difficulties were revealed by the Public Works and Housing Ministry’s roads Director General Sugiyartanto. Based on the ministry’s latest report, 189.52 kilometers of Papua’s border areas have yet to be opened for land clearing from the total 1,098.24 km of road spanning from Merauke to Jayapura.

Sugiyartanto said there were areas, especially in the route that connects Ubrub and Oksibil, with challenging natural contours and conditions.

“Unfortunately, these areas indeed have natural conditions, contours and mountainous topography that are quite difficult for us. So we are trying to open the access from two directions,” he told reporters on Thursday.

He went on to say that several areas had land gradient ratios that are higher than road development standards, which make it difficult for construction. The maximum gradient standard is 10 percent, but some areas have a gradient of more than 10 percent.

Furthermore, other factors have also hindered development, such as hard soil and large boulders, which Sugiyartanto said would endanger the environment if destroyed.

He explained that to open access to difficult areas, the ministry would need to carry out more staging measurements in their technical planning, including lowering the land gradient in order to meet the standards, or using concrete instead of pavement.

He also said maintaining the already-opened access was crucial, but also challenging as opened access could naturally close up.

“It’s true that the conditions are tough, but hopefully the development process will still continue throughout 2018, and it is still planned for 2019 and we will concentrate on that,” he said.

The development of roads in borders areas in Papua from 2015 to 2018 has not seen quick progress compared to other areas such as East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province and Kalimantan.

The ministry’s latest report shows that from 2015 to 2018, the government had made progress on a total of 153.62 km of roads in Papua’s borders areas, including for land clearing, road aggregating and paving. Meanwhile, in NTT, the government has made progress on 179.63 km of roads, which is the total length of the province’s roads in the border area. Moreover, in Kalimantan, 734.28 km of roads have been paved.

In Kalimantan, the development of roads connecting West, East and North Kalimantan provinces in the areas bordering Malaysia is expected to be completed by 2019.

Currently, there are 144.68 km of roads for which access has not yet opened for the clearing process in Kalimantan from the total 1,919.98 km.

The development of the parallel road is long-awaited, as it is expected to solve Kalimantan’s logistics problem.

Deputy regent of East Kalimantan’s Mahakam Ulu regency, Yohanes Juan Jenau, said the construction of the roads along the bordering areas would push down the price of goods and services — which have thus far soared due to high logistics costs — as well as open up wider access to and from Mahakam Ulu, which until now still depends on boats as the main mode of transportation.

“For logistics, we still rely on river transportation. During the summer, the water level in Mahakam River lowers, but during the rainy season, the water level rises. […] The price of primary goods increases [due to such logistical challenges],” Jenau said recently in an official statement.

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