The National Cross-Border Post between West Papua, Republic of Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea is under construction. The cross-border project started in February 2020 and still continue until April 2022. It is supposed to be finished shortly.
The construction denotes Indonesia’s development in the border areas. In 2018, there are also plans to improve economic conditions in West Papua by building economic facilities such as integrated terminals, ATMs, and markets.
Cross-borders are created to make the citizen’s mobility become easier. Thus, growth and equality in the economy can be obtained.
Yetetkun cross-border post-construction costs IDR-115.8 Billion. The funding is taken from the APBN budget, Indonesia’s State Revenue and Expenditure Budget, from the year 2020 to 2022. The cross-border is not the first post built in Papua, and the preceding included Terpadu Skouw in Muara Tami District and Terpadu Sota in Merauke.
To know more about the recent cross-borders in Papua, here are 3 facts to know about the new infrastructure.
The Construction of Cross-Border Posts Between West Papua and Papua New Guinea Spent IDR115.8 Billion.
The investment value for Yetetkun cross-borders is IDR-115.8 billion. The budget is taken from APBN —Indonesia’s State Revenue and Expenditure Budget— 2020-2022. The construction is under BPPW —Regional Settlement Infrastructure Center— Papua, which is divided into several cores and sub-core zones. The core zone consists of:
- The PLBN main building,
- Checkpoint,
- Gatepost,
- TNI post,
- Powerhouse,
- Mechanical electrical and plumbing (MEP),
- Procurement of X-Ray and Thermal Detection equipment, and
- Portals.
Subsequently, the sub-core zone will include employee houses and support zones such as kiosks (economic centers), landscapes, and other infrastructures such as waste management sites and toilets. Another infrastructure development is building roads as access to the post and border areas.
The Project started in February 2020 and is Targeted to be Done in May 2020.
Reportedly the physical construction of the cross-border post has reached 97.57% by March 2022. Besides, it is reported that 14 people from a total population of 2,206 citizens (2017) have passed through the post during the first week of the newest making of Post Across National Border in Yetetkun.
According to Basuki Hadimuljono, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing, this construction is the pride of the Indonesian people as well as the center of new economic growth between Indonesia’s border areas and Papua New Guinea.
Basuki stated that the development of the PLBN marked the beginning and became a stepping stone for a regional economic growth center to improve the welfare of border communities.
The Minister of Public Works and Public Housing continues to support the acceleration of infrastructure development in Papua and West Papua.
Along with the cross-border construction, the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing claimed the quality of the frontier road (trans-Papua) from Merauke to Boven Digoel is under improvement. It is intended to strengthen the connectivity in order to make it easier for the border area’s citizens to market their crops.
Moreover, in the frontier area, there is ‘pasar kaget’, a temporary market, which is held frequently. It is supposed to increase the sales since many people will come to the temporary market.
It can be said that the development objectives of this infrastructure are:
- Strengthening the connectivity in the border area to increase the new economic growth for citizens across borders,
- Improving the welfare and economic equality of across border communities,
- also maintaining security across borders.
Post Across National Border Yetetkun is the Third Post Built in Papua.
Cross-borders post that connects West Papua and Papua New Guinea is not the first post built in Papua. The preceding post is PLBN (Pos Lintas Batas Negara) Terpadu Skouw located in Muara Tami District, Jayapura. It was inaugurated by Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia, in 2017. The design of Skouw cross-border adapted the traditional house of local Papuan called Tangfa.
Afterward, continuing the infrastructure development in October 2021 PLBN Terpadu Sota in Merauke was also inaugurated by the president. Alongside the addition of the newest post across the national border, it is expected to facilitate the citizens and help the economic growth.
The new cross-border post is located in Yetetkun, Boven Digoel Regency, the southernmost Papua province. It is placed amidst Merauke Regency as the southern border and Papua New Guinea as the eastern border. The new infrastructure shows that Boven Digoel is slowly improving and developing.
West Papua and Papua New Guinea can associate with each other easier with the making of National Cross-Borders Post Yetetkun in Boven Digoel district. It is said to be finished in April 2022. Thus, the citizens have to wait until the post is inaugurated by the president to finally be used and optimized.
