My visit in Port Moresby coincided with the Indonesia-PNG Annual Border Meeting. I met with officials from a number of districts in Papua Province, located along the Indonesian-PNG border.
By
Agustinus Wibowo
·5 minutes read
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
Map of the borders of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. A number of small Australian islands, such as Saibai and Boigu, are close to the PNG mainland.
“Did you know that Australia is only three kilometers away from PNG? From the coast of PNG, you can even see Australia!” an Australian visitor said on the day I arrived in Papua New Guinea [PNG].
I didn\'t believe it. On the map, PNG looks very far from Australia. However, if you look more closely, just south off the coast of Western Province are indeed small islands that belong to Australia, such as Saibai Island and Boigu Island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelgo, only an inch from PNG on the map.
Saibai and Boigu are also very close to the Indonesian border.
My visit in Port Moresby coincided with the Indonesia-PNG Annual Border Meeting. I met with officials from a number of districts in Papua Province, located along the Indonesian-PNG border. I heard many stories about this frontier region, which is part of Indonesia but PNG people make up the majority of the population. The border cuts across mines, even an airport. Thousands of refugees from Indonesia live in PNG. And there are many more facts. Hearing these stories made me want to walk along this frontier on both sides to gather and understand them.
On the PNG side are two provinces along this shared border. Along the northern part is Sandaun Province with its capital city of Vanimo, while along the southern part is Western Province, with its capital city Daru. The name "Sandaun" comes from the English word “sundown” and means the place where the sun sets, or the west. In fact, these two provinces are both called “the West”.
Along that long border, the only international crossing is at the northern tip in Wutung, which lays between Vanimo and Jayapura. This means that if I want to travel along the border, I have to leave from Western Province in the south and go north until I reach Vanimo, and then cross the border into Jayapura in the north and then travel down south again to Merauke.
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
A corner of Dari, Papua New Guinea as seen from above.
Was the trip possible? I can’t say for certain. All I know is that I have to fly to Daru. What then? I will think about that after.
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I came to Western Province in a rather desperate state. On the map, the largest province of PNG is an empty space. There are no roads, no information, and in fact, most of the area is swampland. I could find neither books nor practical information.
But I believe that sometimes, a way will open to us by happenstance.
She told me that she had been working for an international NGO in Daru for two years.
When I boarded the plane from Port Moresby to Daru, the passenger next to me happened to be a friendly and cheerful woman from the Philippines. She told me that she had been working for an international NGO in Daru for two years. She then invited me to her workplace, World Vision International, located on Daru’s main road.
At her office I met one of her colleagues, a PNG woman in her 50s or 60s. She turned out to be a midwife who was well-known throughout the province. Her name was Sila Wainetti, nicknamed "Doctor Sila".
Hearing about my plans to explore the border, she immediately became enthusiastic. "My adopted daughter can speak Indonesian," said Sila. “She lives in the the coastal area on the border and happens to be in Daru now. Maybe she can help you."
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My first impression of Sisi Wainetti, Sila\'s daughter, was not very encouraging. The 35-year-old woman wore a loose military T-shirt with stripes, had thick lips and teeth stained red with with fresh betel nut juice. Her hair was tied back. Her footwear was casual, a pair of worn-out flip-flops.
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
Sisi Wainetti
She was quite fluent in Indonesian, but I couldn’t really understand her because of her thick regional accent. Sisi said she had lived in Merauke for two years. She herself was from Morehead District, part of Western Province that borders directly on Indonesia. Her hometown was about 100 kilometers from the Indonesian border and 30 kilometers from Australia.
I asked her about Merauke because I’d never been there, even though I\'m Indonesian.
"Everyone is white over there," Sisi replied, smiling and putting a finger on my arm. She meant Asians, who were whiter-skinned than Melanesians.
Sisi then described the villages that lined the PNG coast towards the border. The only way there was by motorboat.
I asked if she could help me travel as close to the border as possible.
“Sisi often helps Indonesians. When do you want to leave? Sisi will help," she said.
We agreed on a price: 200 kina for the journey there, 200 kina for the return trip, or around Rp 2 million. She said it was the usual price.
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Later that evening, Sisi called, asking if it was possible for me to pay a total of 500 kina for my trip.
I began to doubt her
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
The atmosphere of one part of the City of Dari, Papua New Guinea.
honesty. I apologized, saying that was too high for me, so I\'d better not go.
(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko).
