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Southwest Papua

Province in Western New Guinea, Indonesia

  • 19 min read
  • 8 chapters

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Southwest Papua is located at the northwestern tip of an area called the Doberai Peninsula or the Bird's Head Peninsula. The westernmost tip of this province is the Raja Ampat Regency Regional Marine Protected Area, which has a high diversity of marine life such as coral reefs, giant turtles, manta rays and whale sharks. The Raja Ampat Islands consists of various islands such as Batanta, Misool, Salawati, and Waigeo. The capital of Southwest Papua is Sorong, an oil and gas producer and an entry hub to Papua. The province of Southwest Papua contains ecosystems including tropical rainforests and mountains. Tambrauw Regency is a popular birdwatching destination and has declared its area as Conservation Regency in order to promote ecotourism.

History

Sultanate of Tidore

The Raja Ampat Islands, located in Southwest Papua, have a long-standing history of having its own traditional government, governed by indigenous landowners known as Jaja, and the ethnic Ma'ya kings known as Fun from Waigeo who migrated to the other islands. They were later influenced by the Sultanate of Bacan and the Sultanate of Tidore, hence they adopted the Moluccan title of Kolano, as part of the sultanate expansion under Gurabesi. The 'Four Kings' (called Kalana Fat in Ma'ya or Korano Ngaruha in Tidore or Raja Ampat in Indonesian) were appointed by the Tidore Sultan as administrators for the scattered group of islands and some coastal regions in Papua Island. These were three brothers: Fun Giwar, the ancestor of kings in Waigeo; Fun Malaban, the ancestor of kings in Salawati; Fun Bis, the ancestor of kings in Lilinta, west Misool. Later on, Tidore appointed another king, Tuimadahe, who was the ancestor of kings in Waigama, east Misool. His descendants merged with the native Matbat Jaja line. Fun Mo, an unrelated Moi from south of Sorong, became ancestor of kings in Sailolof, and later married the daughter of a king from Waigeo.

Colonial period

Tidore Sultanate became a Dutch protectorate in 17th century. At that time, Papua was considered to have little economic value compared to other islands, so the Tidore Sultanate was left to govern and tax it. This is recorded in history, three people from the Teminabuan and Ayamaru regions were appointed as kings as a subordinate region of Tidore (zelfbestuur). They are Angguok Kondjol (Fle-Fle Kondjol) as the Raja Kaibus, Isak Besi Thesia as the Raja Siribau, Flebroe Solossa as the Raja Framu (Ayamaru), then also Raja Kambuaya. However, in the late 19th century, the Dutch Government realized that colonizing Papua could prevent other Europeans from approaching other islands in the Dutch East Indies, which would have disrupted their trade monopoly, particularly in spices in the Maluku Islands. As a result, the territory was governed more directly. Until the end of the 19th century, the main commodities in Papua were slaves and bird-of-paradise feathers. In the early 20th century, mineral potential in Papua began to be discovered by Europeans. In 1935, the Nederlandsch Nieuw Guinee Petroleum Maatschappij (NNGPM) was established to conduct exploration of oil and gas. Oil was discovered in several locations, including Klamono and the Sele Strait (the strait between Papua Island and Salawati Island) in the Sorong Regency.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Dutch divided New Guinea into several parts called afdeeling. One of these parts was Afdeeling Noord Nieuw Guinea (North New Guinea) based in Manokwari. Each afdeeling was further divided into several onderafdeeling, one of which was the Sorong onderafdeeling centered on Doom Island. The Dutch then constructed offices, churches, and settlements on this island, making it a trading center and port. Residents who lived there at the time recount how Doom Island was brightly illuminated at night, even though the now major city of Sorong was still pitch black.

During World War II, Papua was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 and became an area of intense fighting. The allied troops, led by General Douglas MacArthur, implemented the "island hopping" strategy to disrupt the Japanese logistics chain. They gradually took control of the north coast of Papua, starting from Jayapura, then Biak, and moving to the next islands, until they reached Sausapor in Tambrauw Regency. The Allies sent spies to find a suitable place to land, and Sausapor beach was chosen. In Operation Globetrotter, which took place between July and August 1944, the weakly defended Sausapor was captured by the allied forces. An airstrip was then built at Sausapor, which became the allied base for attacking the Moluccas and the Philippines. Japanese forces in Manokwari and Sorong, who were cut off from other units, fled to the forest and hid until the war was over. The Sausapor operation marked the liberation of Papua from Japan, and many remnants of the war can still be found in the area today.

Post colonial

This region became the site of confrontation during Operation Trikora due to its proximity to Indonesian territory in the Maluku Islands. The first incursion into the Raja Ampat islands was an attempt by PG 200 on 14 September 1961 with 39 men under Lieutenant Jamaluddin Nasution. Lieutenant Nasution and two Papuans, Gerson Esuru (from Warwasi Village, Arguni) and Wos Rumaserang (both from the Gerakan Pelarian Pemuda) died in this attempt. This was then followed by PG 300, with command company 191261 under Lieutenant Nana managing to infiltrate Gag Island and later joined by 29 local islanders. While command company 191260 under Serma Boy Thomas managed to reach Cape Dalpele in Waigeo Island after hiding in Bala-Bala Island. These efforts were followed by other infiltration of PG 400 (survivors of KRI Macan Tutul) led by Charles Papilaya and PG 500 (former Permesta rebels) led by Jonkey Robert Kumontoy and managed to join with Herlina Kasim and also PG 200 who had arrived earlier. The island of Waigeo was a safe haven for Indonesian troops as Dutch forces rarely patrolled the region. While in Sorong, Simon Randa, a Torajan, with the Moi tribes supplied Indonesian guerilla forces called enso-enso lit. 'red-white' in the Moi language.

The dispute of Western New Guinea was resolved with the signing of the New York Agreement, putting the region under the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) until it was transferred to Indonesian control in 1963. In 1969, the Act of Free Choice or PEPERA lit. 'Determination of the People's Opinion' was held, which controversially formalized West Irian as Indonesian territory. The government subsequently restructured the administrative divisions of the region, changing the former Sorong onderafdeeling to Sorong Regency, which now covers an area similar to that of the present Southwest Papua Province. The small island of Doom was abandoned, while the city of Sorong on the mainland of Papua Island has grown increasingly crowded and densely populated due to its strategic location. Doom Island is now the capital of Sorong Islands District, and some of the old buildings have been restored to serve as government offices. The population of Sorong has also increased with the government's transmigration program. Because of Sorong's rapid growth, the local government proposed an increase in the status of Sorong to become an Administrative City which was approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1996.

On 4 October 1999, Sorong City was formalized by law and separated from Sorong Regency. The existence of regional autonomy has caused rapid expansion in the number of regencies and districts. Sorong Regency has become smaller in size due to this regional division. On 11 December 2002 South Sorong Regency and Raja Ampat Regency were created from parts of Sorong Regency, then in 2008 Tambrauw Regency (on 29 October) and Maybrat Regency (on 19 December) were created from other parts of Sorong Regency. The support for the creation of a new province was due to dispute on the location of West Papua's provincial capital between Sorong and Manokwari. Manokwari faction argues that Manokwari is a mnukwar (old village), because it was the location of the original Dutch residents. After the decision to pick Manokwari, John Piet Wanane, the Regent of Sorong, began to coordinate efforts to create a new province for the former Sorong Regency, called Sorong Raya, which is based according to the ethnic groups that exist in the region. What was then the whole of the former Sorong Regency was later formalized in law to become Southwest Papua Province in 2022 after 20 years of advocacy.

The expansion in the aforementioned area was plagued by numerous controversies. In Maybrat Regency, a debate erupted over the location of the district capital between Kumurkek and Ayamaru. The people of Aifat supported Kumurkek, while the people of Ayamaru and Aitinyo supported Ayamaru. This tussle over the capital continued until the Constitutional Court intervened in 2013 and declared Ayamaru as the official capital. Despite this decision, community divisions persisted, and a meeting was eventually organized between the conflicting parties. In 2019, it was finally agreed that the capital would be relocated to Kumurkek. However, following the transfer, the Ayamaru people expressed their intention to establish the Maybrat Sau Regency and split from the original Maybrat Regency. Tambrauw Regency was also embroiled in controversy when it "borrowed" four districts from Manokwari Regency, with the political motive of facilitating local elections. The move was met with protests from the community, but the Constitutional Court rejected the appeal and upheld the decision in 2013. The residents of Kebar, Amberbaken, Mubrani, and Senopi, who felt that they had been forcibly transferred to Tambrauw, announce a new region called West Manokwari Regency. With the creation of Southwest Papua, the community requested that West Manokwari be removed from the new province since it is geographically and culturally closer to Manokwari than Sorong and is the customary territory of the Arfak tribe. However, this issue was not addressed until the new province was formed.

Southwest Papua was passed into law on 17 November 2022 by the DPR and inaugurated on 9 December 2022 by the Ministry of Home Affairs. On the day of the inauguration, Muhammad Musa'ad was also appointed as acting governor. Article from Antara News reports that the Sorong Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Southwest Papua is expected to play a vital role in empowering a large number of workers for the sake of boosting regional development.

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