MERAUKE
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12th February 1902 a Dutch steam ship entered the mouth of the Merauke
river on the south-east corner of the province of Papua. For the first
time the province of Merauke was opened to the outside world.
Johannes Gluba Gebze, Bupati
of Merauke, looks back at the first century of his kabupaten’s
engagement with the rest of the world with a critical eye.
“The outsiders took
the view that the people of Papua were unable to do anything to improve
their own lives. Due to this misconception, the potential of the people
of Papua was not used properly,” he says.
This is now changing thanks to his vision “to make Merauke a main
area for agricultural, forestry and marine production”. It is a
challenge but the region possesses abundant wealth. The broad savannah
in the south-east could be prime agricultural land. It has a long coastline
with many possibilities for fishing and tourism.
Although a few commercial
plantations have successfully established themselves here, the region only produces a fraction of what it could. Less than 1 per cent of the 2.7 million hectares available for coconuts, rubber, cashew, betel nuts and palm oil plantations are currently in use.
Studies show that the land could also be used for growing cotton or sugar cane, but there is none under production yet. Just 1.3 per cent of the 3.7 million hectares of land capable of growing rice, corn, cassava, sweet potato, peanuts, soya and other fruits and vegetables is being tilled. There is also vast unused forestry potential and mineral resources including oil, gas and gold.
The kabupaten represents one of the greatest untapped natural reserves anywhere in the region. “It is easy to talk about Merauke,” says Bupati Gebze, “but what we want is for investors in London to come here and find out about its potential first hand. We will welcome them with open arms.”
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