VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The year 2019 is expected to be a new era for the Indonesian province of West Papua in terms of railway project, after years of experiencing difficult transportation problems. The commencement of railway projects in West Papua in 2019 will increase the length of the railway line and will be a new era in railway transportation history since the first railway lines in Indonesia were constructed during the Dutch colonial rule.

History recorded that on June 7, 1864, governor general Baron Sloet van den Beele initiated the first railway line in Indonesia on Kemijen village in Semarang, Central Java. It began operations on Aug 10, 1867, in Central Java, connecting the first built Semarang station to Tanggung for 25 kilometers. By May 21, 1873, the line was connected to Solo, in Central Java, and was later extended to Yogyakarta. By the 1920s, the system in Java had reached its greatest extent, with most towns and cities connected by rail, with branches and tramways connecting sugar plantations to factories.

And now the railway project will be expanded to areas outside Java and reach remote areas in West Papua Province. The Central government has asked the regional administration of West Papua to accelerate preparation for the project to build railway track in the province.

The instruction from Jakarta will be on land clearing where the main tracks would be built and would pass through the city of Sorong, Sorong District, South Sorong, Maybrat, Teluk Bintuni, South Manokwari, and Manokwari. The main track would extend between the city of Sorong and the city of Manokwari.

West Papua Transportation Office Chief Agustinus Kadakolo remarked in Manokwari on Monday that the groundbreaking of the railway project in the province will be carried out in 2019. According to Kadakolo, the first phase of the construction of the railway line will be carried out around 100 kilometers from Sorong City. (ant)