
Split Mountains and Forests! Jokowi Successfully Builds Thousands of Miles of Trans-Papua Road
30 October, 2024Share:
Split Mountains and Forests! Jokowi Successfully Builds Thousands of Miles of Trans-Papua Road

A number of infrastructure projects have been successfully built by President Joko Widodo in his 10-year term. There is one prestigious mega project that Jokowi has successfully built. This project was previously considered impossible to build, but in Jokowi’s hands it turned out to be possible. The project is the Trans-Papua Road.
The Trans-Papua Road is included in the National Strategic Project and the 2020-2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan. When the construction was initiated in 2015, the Trans-Papua Road had a total length of 2,196 miles which was divided into two provinces, namely in Papua Province with a length of 1,532 miles and West Papua with a length of 665 miles.
In a document entitled “Roads in Indonesia: from Sabang to Merauke” compiled by a research team from the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, the purpose of building the Trans-Papua Road is to improve the welfare of the Papuan people, by improving access and connectivity between regions so that isolated areas can be opened up.
Since the end of 2017, the 665.32-mile Trans-Papua Road in West Papua has been fully connected. The West Papua Trans section is divided into two segments, namely segment I Sorong – Maybrat – Manokwari (369.68 miles) and segment II Manokwari – Mameh – Wasior – Papua Province Border (295.68 miles). Both Trans Papua segments can be traversed with a travel time of around 36 hours.
Meanwhile, in 2018 the Trans Papua Road successfully penetrated Merauke – Boven Digoel along 267.19 miles. Overall, during Jokowi’s administration, the Trans-Papua Road has been successfully built along more than 2,141 miles. The details are with paved conditions along 1,077 miles, unpaved 1,063 miles, and unpaved 9.94 miles.
In 2024, the Directorate General of Highways of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing is focusing on completing the 357.24-mile Jayapura-Wamena section passing through 2 regencies, namely Keerom and Yalimo. In addition, the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing also succeeded in signing the Government Cooperation Project Agreement with Business Entities for the Construction of the Trans Papua Road, Jayapura-Wamena Section, Mamberamo-Elelim Segment, 31.16 miles long in the Papua Mountains Province in July 2024.
The Trans-Papua project is being carried out by the government together with the Hutama Mambelim Trans Papua Company with an investment value of IDR 3.3 trillion. The Hutama Mambelim Trans Papua Company is a consortium between the Hutama Karya Company and the Hutama Karya Infrastructure Company.
In the construction of the Trans Papua Road, the Directorate General of Highways of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing faces challenges in the form of mountainous contours, several points with extreme road slopes, geometric aspects of the road, to landslide areas and grades that are still too large. The handling of the Trans-Papua development is carried out with a 3-shift work system.
The impact of the Trans Papua Road project has begun to be felt by the people of Papua and West Papua Provinces. For example, connectivity to tourism areas in West Papua Province has begun to open up.
Head of the West Papua Province National Road Implementation Center, Mauluddin Said revealed that there are 49 National Road sections handled by the West Papua Province National Road Implementation Center, with a total length of 829.73 miles.
“The handling pattern is divided into two segments, Segment I is from Sorong City to Manokwari with a length of 340.47 miles, 333.74 miles with flexible pavement (asphalt) and rigid pavement (rigid/concrete) 6.21 miles with a gravel road surface (selective material). While in segment II from Manokwari to the border of West Papua Province with Central Papua Province around 325.57 miles with paved road conditions along 257.79 miles, 67.8 miles are HPH (Forest Business Rights) areas that are still in production,” said Mauluddin as quoted from the statement of Marga, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing.
Both segments of the National Road cross several tourist attractions in West Papua Province, including Lake Anggi in the Arfak Mountains, Mount Botak in Manokwari, Cenderawasih Bay in Wasior, and Triton Bay in Kaimana. While in Southwest Papua there are Raja Ampat in Sorong), Puncak Petik Bintang and Lake Framu in Maybrat.
Mauluddin explained that one of the interesting tourist attractions in the Land of Cendrawasih is Mount Botak Manokwari. This tourist attraction is like being in a bay surrounded by hilly areas, and a place that is so clear and natural, and supported by paved road access with a stability of 86 percent at present, and it is predicted that by December 31, 2023 the stable condition will reach 89 percent.
“Mount Botak is located at mile 91.34 from Manokwari. It is called Mount Botak by the community, because the area is barren and arid, and the soil conditions are weathered rocks, so it is difficult for plants to grow around it. However, the place is very beautiful, more beautiful than Labuan Bajo,” he said.
No less unique than the Mount Botak tour, in the Arfak Mountains there are two interesting lakes to visit, namely Lake Anggi Giji commonly known as Lake Laki-Laki and Lake Anggi Gida which is often called Lake Perempuan.
Road access to the lake has been paved for 25.54 miles and bridges with a total of seven bridges along the Warmare – Manyambouw – Anggi section, with a travel time of around 2 hours from the previous 5-6 hours from Manokwari.
As another interesting reference for tourism that has been opened for road access along 310.69 miles, namely the Negeri di Atas Awan tour or commonly known as Puncak Petik Bintang. The tourist area is located in a mountainous or hilly area. Tourists who want to visit can depart from Sorong at 3 am and arrive at the peak at 5 am, so they can enjoy the atmosphere of being above the clouds.