Two Sides of the Trans-Papua Highway

The pathway was paved with wooden planks. The residents referred to it as a rail because the riders had to balance their motorcycles cautiously while traveling along it. We walked along the pathway carefully.

Kompas/Fabio M Lopes Costa

A section of the Trans Papua Road that connects Wamena to Habema along 52 kilometers in Jayawijaya Regency, Papua, Thursday (4/5/2017).

The Trans-Papua Highway, whose construction is still underway, is like two sides of a coin, bringing economic benefits to the community and, on the other hand, having ecological impacts.

KEEROM, KOMPAS — The under-construction Trans-Papua Highway, spanning 3,462 kilometers from north to south in the easternmost region of the country, has changed the landscape and has had impacts on the lives of local people. With several sections having been completed, the land transportation network has brought about economic benefits. On the other hand, it has also brought ecological impacts, as illegal logging is becoming rampant.