For some Indonesian people in the western part, the West Papua region of Indonesia is still considered an inland area that still has a forest atmosphere. There are no asphalt roads, red lights, electricity, buildings such as shopping centers and so on.

In fact, there is still an opinion, for those who have not set foot in Papua, that native Papuans are still far from technology, do not use motorbikes, cars or telecommunications equipment.

But that’s not the case. The expansion area of Papua Province is South Papua Province with Law 14 of 2022 covering 4 districts, namely Asmat, Mappi, Boven Digoel and Merauke.

Two of these districts have border areas between the Republic of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. At the border, the state is present by establishing a cross-border post along with providing all the facilities, such as electricity. The districts are Boven Digoel and Merauke.

In Boven Digoel district, the government named the cross-border post Yetetkun because it coincides with Yetetkun village, Ninati District. Meanwhile, in Merauke district, the government named the cross-border post Sota because the border coincides with Sota village, Sota District.

The cross-border post for the two districts stands strong and majestic, its beauty looks even stronger with the dim lights powered by electricity illuminating the border area between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG).

The supply of electricity to border areas cannot be separated from the fast action of the Indonesian Electricity Company which immediately distributed electrical energy after the cross-border post was completed.

Indonesian Electricity Company UIW Papua and West Papua Communications Manager Djalaludin said, Indonesian Electricity Company UIW Papua and West Papua had electrified 3 (three) cross-border post locations in Papua, namely, Sota, Yetetkun and Skouw cross-border posts.

This was done realizing that the Indonesian Electricity Company UIW Papua is the spearhead of electricity services in the eastern region of the Republic of Indonesia.

“The Skouw cross-border post is included in the Indonesian Electricity Company UP3 Jayapura handling area, all three cross-border posts have electricity,” said Djalaludin via his cellular connection, Saturday (30/12).

Head of cross-border post Sota Ni Luh Puspa Jayaningsih said that since it was inaugurated by President Jokowi in October 2021, electricity to the border area has been supplied directly by the Indonesian Electricity Company.

“In the Sota area, the lights sometimes go out, but at the cross-border post there is also a generator backup, so for electricity it is safe to carry out cross-border services,” said Puspa in Sota.

Puspa said that so far there have been no electricity cables to the Papua New Guinea region where Papuan traders started selling before the cross-border post and all forms of facilities were filled.

“There are currently no electricity cables to PNG, but in Skouw there was an MoU regarding electricity, but until now there are some PNG parliament members who don’t agree, so it has finally been postponed again. “And for Sota there is no agreement with the other party, in this case Western Province,” explained Puspa.

The head of the Yetetkun cross-border post, Isak Jeverson, said a similar thing when met at the Yetetkun cross-border post. That since it was stated that the construction of the cross-border post was completed at the end of 2022, all that was left was waiting for the inauguration by the President, the Indonesian Electricity Company immediately followed suit by supplying electricity to the cross-border post area which was later beneficial to villages throughout the Ninati District which included 5 villages, namely Ninati, Kawaktembut, Tembutka, Timka, and Yetetkun.

“After construction is declared complete, electricity is safe. “And now the people in 5 villages in the Ninati district are also getting benefits. Previously, electricity was not 24 hours a day, but now the lighting is 24 hours,” said Isak.

Isak hopes that electrical stability can continue to be improved considering the existence of X-Ray machine facilities at cross-border posts which rely on stable electrical energy to check the luggage of border crossers.

“The power to the cross-border post is adequate, it’s just that a few moments ago the power was unstable. “Like an X-Ray machine, the electricity must be stable,” he said.

The Indonesian Electricity Company initially built a 20.34 km long medium voltage electricity network, the addition of 1 substation and the construction of a low voltage electricity network to distribute electricity from the Diesel Power Plant in Waropko.

People Remember When the Border Was Still Dark

The border areas of both Yetetkun and Sota were inversely proportional, long before the cross-border post was established.

Where, when the cross-border post is not yet available and electricity is not supplied, the border area is just a pitch black forest atmosphere.

However, the stigma of the Papua region being a remote place seems to have been broken by the presence of electric lighting at the border.

It can also be seen that if you leave Tanah Merah, the capital of Boven Digoel district, towards the Yetetkun cross-border post, which is 250 kilometers away and a 3-hour journey by car, the electricity poles are firmly fixed up to the Yetetkun cross-border post.

Head of Yetetkun Village, Jeremias Jekrim, said that before the existence of the cross-border post, which is now electrified, people were afraid to walk towards the border.

“In the past, people were afraid that when it was afternoon to walk here (the cross-border post area), it would be dark. Now what do you want to be afraid of, it’s already clear, from Yetetkun village to CROSS-BORDER POST the distance is 4 kilometers, and our habit here is to walk, it’s not a problem because it’s clear, even if it’s just to sit here (cross-border post) while playing with cellphones, ” said Jeremias in the cross-border post Yetetkun.

Jeremias admits that the presence of electrified cross-border posts has many benefits. The cross-border post manager Yetetkun opens markets in the area on Wednesdays and Sundays. This schedule is used by people from Indonesia and PNG to buy and sell agricultural products from each country.

“You can charge your cellphone, the internet is quite smooth, so we already know information from outside such as opening social media via cellphone, now thank God, there are many benefits, in the cross-border post area, there is a market, Wednesday and Sunday “until evening, people can sell. In the past, it was dark, sir, you had to change your cellphone charger,” said the short man.

At the Sota cross-border post, the traders who sell in the cross-border post supporting area said they were grateful for being given a suitable place with lighting facilities.

Margaret Naip is one of the traders in the cross-border post Sota supporting area. It can be seen that in the supporting area towards the cross-border post fence, stalls have been provided where several native Papuans sell things like selling basic necessities and souvenirs.

“We were moved from the buffer area outside the cross-border post to the supporting area. Previously, we were behind the stake, there weren’t even any lights there, we were moved here, there was electricity. “This kiosk also doesn’t pay rent, thank you,” said Margaretha in the Sota cross-border post.