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| AsiaViews, Edition: 45/VI/February2010 |
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| The Skouw Shopping Center |
| Located two hours from Jayapura, the town of Skouw twice a week becomes the main shopping center for people living at the border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It is scheduled to become the trade channel between the two countries. |
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| Skouw-Wutung border crossing. TEMPO/MARTHA SILABAN |
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FROM one end to another of the border crossing between Skouw and Wutung people are walking, many pushing metal shopping trolleys filled with rice, boxes of biscuits and bottled drinks. People are smiling and greeting each other under the hot sun. This is the normal atmosphere along the border between the Republic of Indonesia (Skouw) and Papua New Guinea (Wutung).
At least twice a week, Papua New Guineans from Sandaun province buy their weekly staples at the market located on the border, close to the headquarters of Yonif (Infantry Battalion) 713 in Skouw, in the district of Muara Tami of Jayapura. One of the shoppers is a woman named Valentina. “I am going to the shopping center,” she says. What will she be buying? Spontaneously she responds that she is off to buy cigarettes and calls her child of 1 1/2 years old to accompany her.
She arrived by car which she parked at the border post at Wutung in Papua New Guinea. Then she walked 600 meters to the Border Checkpoint at Skouw in Indonesia. She then wrote down her name and her needs in the book lying on the table of the Customs & Excise official. “Those who don’t have a border crossing card can cross by just writing their names down in the book; but usually just on market days, to go shopping,” said Parulian Pardede, head of the Jayapura Border Control & Cooperation Section. Twice a week the market is filled with shoppers from Papua New Guinea.
According to Parulina, prices at the border market in Skouw are lower than in Papua New Guinea. Hordes of shoppers cross over during the two market days twice a week. When Tempo visited Skouw last November the two market days fell on Thursday and Sunday. Transactions were carried out in kinas (the currency of Papua New Guinea) or rupiah. In Port Moresby, by way of comparison, transactions are only conducted in dollars or kinas.
In Wutung there is also a market but the traders there do not sell daily staples but rather souvenirs such as handbags, mugs, shawls and T-shirts. Most of them are labeled with the Papua New Guinea flag which consists of a bird of paradise and a formation of stars in bright colors: red, yellow and black. There are also betel nut and betel leaf sellers. One can also buy wooden carvings in the form of totem poles measuring 1-2 meters in length along the two lanes of the asphalt road. The road to Wutung stretches out for about 600 meters.
Other than that visitors to Papua New Guinea must pass through an area of no-man’s land measuring 5-10 square meters. After that comes an archway inscribed with the words, ‘Welcome to Papua New Guinea’ and ‘Welkam tu Papua Niugini’ (in Tok Pisin, the official language there) and on the other side of the archway are the words, ‘Good bye. Thank you. God be with you’. And ‘Gud bai. Tengkyu. God instaap in yu’.
To reach the border from Jayapura requires about two hours. The road which has many bends is not tiring because of the beautiful scenery that is such a delight to the eye. As one approaches the border it is necessary to report to the Muara Tami Sectional Police and Indonesian Army Post; also to park one’s car and walk through the border archway. This is an area that has long been rife with conflict.
Dozens of years ago many Indonesian Papuans crossed the border into Papua New Guinea because of political difficulties. There they spread out to various provinces in Papaua New Guinea. The border between the two countries lies at 141 degrees along the east longitude. If we look at its history the border was drawn up by the British and the Dutch on 16 May 1895 by way of the Hague Treaty. The British received the territories to the east and the Dutch received the territories to the west of 141 degrees east longitude.
The line can only been seen via the position of the border checkpoint posts, for the rest it is simply an imaginary line that divides villages, ancient customary lands and gardens. It is not surprising if the Indonesian Papuans still have close links to the Papua New Guineans. The parts of Papua that border directly on to Papua New Guinea are (from north to south) the town of Jayapura (Skouw-Wutung), Keerom regency, the Bintang Mountains, Boven Digoel and Merauke. The border post at Skouw-Wutung is an international cross point that was opened to the public in the year 2000. Last November and in mid-January, 23 of the repatriating Papuans came home via this route.
The two governments plan to officially open this as a commercial route between the two countries. “The Papua New Guinea delegation have committed to opening the Skouw-Wutung Border Checkpoint once the Wutung Border Checkpoint facilities are ready,” said the Indonesian Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Bom Soerjanto, quoting the minutes of the Joint Border Committee Meeting on 7-11 December 2009 in Jakarta.
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| By Martha W. Silaban (TEMPO) |
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| Asiaviews, Vol.III No.9 January-February 2010 |
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