Two Sides of the Trans-Papua Highway

Kompas/Fabio M Lopes Costa

A section of the Trans Papua Road that connects Wamena to Habema along 52 kilometers in Jayawijaya Regency, Papua, Thursday (4/5/2017).

The Trans-Papua Highway, whose construction is still underway, is like two sides of a coin, bringing economic benefits to the community and, on the other hand, having ecological impacts.

KEEROM, KOMPAS — The under-construction Trans-Papua Highway, spanning 3,462 kilometers from north to south in the easternmost region of the country, has changed the landscape and has had impacts on the lives of local people. With several sections having been completed, the land transportation network has brought about economic benefits. On the other hand, it has also brought ecological impacts, as illegal logging is becoming rampant.

As the Papua Inroad Expedition team tracked a number of areas traversed by the Trans-Papua Highway in Papua and West Papua throughout 2021, it was evident how local people benefited from the road. It connects one area to another, improving the distribution of equipment and goods.

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However, the opening of transportation access has made illegal logging more widespread, as seen in Keerom regency, Papua province, on 3 Dec., 2021. Piles of merbau logs (Borneo teak) were seen on the roadside at Wembi village, Manem district. Next to the piles of the logs was a pathway into the depths of the forest.

The pathway was paved with wooden planks. The residents referred to it as a rail because the riders had to balance their motorcycles cautiously while traveling along it. We walked along the pathway carefully.

About 1 km into the forest, there was a wooden hut used as a shelter by loggers. Someone came out of the hut. He appeared to have been resting inside. "I've been here since 2013," said the man, who later identified himself as Enal, 25, from Makassar, South Sulawesi.

He worked as a transporter from the logging site to the roadside of the Trans-Papua Highway. The logs were sold to a timber processing mill in Arso district, Keerom.

Following a tip from Enal, we visited a saw mill in Arso district, which is the administrative seat of Keerom. Ramadhan, one of the mill’s employees, said the mill’s supply of merbau came from Wembi Village.

He said that the merbau timber, commonly called ironwood, was sold at Rp 4.25 million per cubic meter, which appeared to be the standard price in Arso. “The boss also has a saw mill in Abepura [Jayapura]. If you buy there, the price can be above Rp 5 million [per cubic meter]," he said.

This practice had become increasingly common in recent years along with improved road access. Timber processing mills were also found in East Arso, West Arso, Manem, Skanto and Waris.

Keerom customary leader Servasius Tuamis said some timber processing businesses were suspected of having no permits, with log procurement relying on customary forests. This practice had become increasingly common in recent years along with improved road access. Timber processing mills were also found in East Arso, West Arso, Manem, Skanto and Waris.

The unruly loggers used chainsaws to fell trees with an average diameter of less than 50 centimeters. They paid Rp 300,000 to Rp 400,000 per cubic meter as tribute money to the local community as the beneficiaries of the customary rights of the forest. “The company takes the logs from the community at a very cheap price. We have repeatedly reprimanded the community, but they don't care at all. They say they have to fulfill their daily needs,” said Servasius, commonly known as Servo.

KOMPAS/FABIO MARIA LOPES COSTA

Head of the National Road Implementation Center XVIII Osman Harianto Marbun.

In Tambrauw, West Papua, the Trans-Papua Highway seemed to have encouraged not only illegal logging but also bird hunting in the forest around the road.

"So, once the road was there, people began to take wood and hunt in large quantities," said Semuel Ariks, a community elder of the Mpur tribe in Lembah Kebar, Tambrauw.

Thriving economy

In contrast to this dark side, local people claimed they had been helped greatly by the Trans-Papua Highway. The road had facilitated community mobility and logistics distribution and had stimulated the local economy.

In Keerom, economic activity has risen since the opening of the Jayapura-Wamena route in Jayawijaya regency in 2018. One beneficiary of the change was Wini, 54, the owner of the Sopo Nyono food stall in Arso district.

She said she could earn Rp 300,000 to Rp 700,000 a day. Coming from East Java and having lived in Keerom for 35 years, she said that in in the 1980s, the road in Keerom had been unpaved and swampy.

In Lembah Kebar, Tambrauw, Semuel said that before the opening of the Trans-Papua Highway, local people had to use a small airplane to travel to Manokwari regency or Sorong.

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Building materials from other regions, he said, had to be transported by plane to the Kebar Valley at high cost. "In the past, transporting a sack of cement by plane cost Rp 500,000," he said.

They now travel on rented double-axle pick-up trucks. From Lembah Kebar to Manokwari or the return trip, the rental price is around Rp 2 million. The vehicle can carry around 20 sacks of cement, so the transportation price is only Rp 100,000 per sack.

On the other hand, the construction of the Trans-Papua Highway had also impacted the sustainability of the forests because of rife, unregulated logging.

Cahyo Pamungkas, a professor at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), said the Trans-Papua Highway had provided benefits for indigenous Papuans, as it was able to facilitate the mobility of people and goods and open access to education and health services.

On the other hand, the construction of the Trans-Papua Highway had also impacted the sustainability of the forests because of rife, unregulated logging.

Cahyo, who conducted a study on the construction of the Trans-Papua Highway in Jayawijaya in 2018 and Tambrauw in 2019, was also concerned about a likely rise in the circulation of drugs and liquor, as he saw in the central mountainous regions, such as Jayawijaya regency, Papua.

Social justice

Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said the construction of Trans-Papua infrastructure was aimed at realizing social justice and connectivity. The currently skyrocketing prices of basic needs in Papua, he said, were expected to go down.

"If there are native Papuans who say they don't need the road, they are entitled to their opinions. The decision [on the infrastructure development] was not from us alone, but from the House of Representatives, whose constituencies had been asking for a road," Basuki said when interviewed in Jakarta on Saturday (18/12/2021).

On a separate occasion, Deputy Environment and Forestry Minister Alue Dohong said his office, apart from preventive efforts, would pursue heightened law enforcement to deal with illegal logging.

“The road not only opens up [illegal logging] but also allows law enforcement to carry out routine patrols and [improves the] mobility of forestry supervisors," he said.

KOMPAS/FABIO MARIA LOPES COSTA

Residents use the Trans Papua road section Jayapura-Wamena.

He added that law enforcement was the last step to take if people failed to build awareness about protecting the forest for the future. “Business actors should be aware. So should be the public and bureaucrats. They should not think in the short term merely to pursue profits," he said. (FAI/FLO/HRS/JAL/VAN/ICH/ILO)

(This article was translated by Musthofid)