Air Transportation Main Support for Development In Papua

Jakarta, Dec 2 (Antara) - Air transportation is a major support for development in Papua where nearly 80 percent is mountainous land, with an average altitude of 500 to over five thousand meters above sea level, an air-transportation businessman said. "Air transport is the backbone of development in Papua in terms of the mobilization of goods and people," stated Satya Graha Utama, President-Director, PT Unitrade Persada Nusantara, one of the companies in Papua dealing with air transportation, here, on Sunday. He noted that Papua`s geography made access quite difficult, especially in mountainous areas, making air transportation the only option for the government and society for the development of Indonesia's easternmost provinces. "This situation slows down the development of other infrastructure and has thus become a matter of concern for the national and local governments," said Satya. According to him, government programs that make Papua a corridor of economic development in the sectors of foods, fisheries, energy and mining must be accompanied by a national road map for the mobilization of logistical and human resources. "The government's development programs are expected to add to the welfare (of the economy) at the local level. So there must be a `road map` to get the supply of components for development to the destination in Papua," remarked Satya. He added that the road map is related to the number and type of aircraft and requires qualified human resources to support the air transportation activities and who understand Papua, especially in terms of its geography, which is different from other parts of Indonesia. The specialty is not only necessary because it is located in the easternmost province of Indonesia, which is the largest in the country at 317,061 square kilometres, or 19.33 percent of the total area of Indonesia, but also due to its elevation of five thousand to eight thousand meters above sea level. "Therefore, pilots must have the skill to fly a plane in such areas or over a `flying mountain` where the weather affects flying patterns and techniques," added Satya. The type of aircraft flown over such a landscape is a helicopter with special specifications. In addition, the government should also give priority to strengthening and developing airstrip infrastructure in some areas of Papua, which has become a hub for air transportation. Satya explained that the current logistical centre or point on the mountainous region of Papua covering several districts such as Puncak, Puncak Jaya, Pegunungan Bintang, Yahukimo, Intan Jaya and Tolikara are located in the Wamena and Jayawijaya districts. "Of course the hub (center) of logistics in Wamena is not enough to support the movement of goods and people in the mountainous areas in addition to the new districts that require strong support from the infrastructure, especially in the air transportation sector," he explained. He pointed out several areas in Papua such as Nabire that could be a logistics hub in the transportation sector in the western and central areas, while Pegunungan Bintang could be developed to support the southern part of Papua, covering the districts of Mapi, Boven Digoel and Asmat.