FOR the last 30 years I have travelled to some of the remotest border towns of Indonesian Kalimantan, one of the most unexplored regions in the world.
As a journalist I have been able to visit some of the towns and villages along the 1,100km-long border which Sarawak shares with the three neighbouring provinces – Kalimatan Utara (Kaltara) in the North, Kalimantan Timur (Kaltim) in the East and Kalimantan Barat (Kalbar) in the West.
In the old days when the communication system was poor, I travelled by motorcycle, four-wheel drive vehicle and later by small aircraft over thousands of kilometres to write about the people in some of the world’s most quaint and friendly places.
In some of these, poverty was rife as the villagers lived a hand-to-mouth existence because the communication system was very poor; there was hardly any development and many rural villages were very remote.
So, the news soon after the Indonesia elections of April 17 that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was going to move the Indonesian capital to Borneo excited my imagination.
As the Indonesian capital of Jakarta with 10 million people was overpopulated and the city itself was sinking, Jokowi’s answer to the problem was to move to the resource-rich but sparsely-populated Kalimantan.
On May 7, Jokowi visited the famous oil town of Balikpapan city in East Kalimantan, a place I first visited in the early 1990s on a mission to help a Lun Bawang pastor build a Bible college at the neighbouring township of Samarinda.
On this trip, Jokowi was impressed with Bukit Soeharto located between Samarinda and Balikpapan, the two largest cities in the Kaltim that have airports.
On my last visit to Balikpapan, it was obvious that with its ultra-modern Sepinggan International “Eco Airport”, its facilities and decor far exceeded the Kuching International Airport.
Balikpapan, a seaport city on the east coast of Borneo – it has two harbours: Semayang and Kariangau (a ferry harbour) – is the industrial, transportational, commercial and financial centre of Indonesian Kalimantan.
With a population of almost 750,000, it is the second most populous city in East Kalimantan, after Samarinda; the other major Kalimantan cities are Banjarmasin, Pontianak, Palangkaraya, Tarakan and Nunukan.
Interestingly, Balikpapan has something in common with Sarawak – oil.
On February 10, 1897, the first oil drilling began in Balikpapan in a location that is now known as the Mathilda oil well; 10 years later Sarawak started drilling at Canada Hill where the “Grand Old Lady” stands today.
In 1899, the Dutch Indies colonial administration gave the township’s official name of “Balikpapan”.
After 1907, BPM (Batavian Oil Company), a subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Shell oil company, made Balikpapan its headquarters and imported skilled labourers, engineers and managers from overseas.
Following this, numerous multi-national companies came to Balikpapan to invest in the oil industry, resulting in a boost to the economy and the social structure of Kalimantan’s most important city.
In 1965, Pertamina, the Indonesian state-owned oil company, took control of the ownership of BPM in Balikpapan, together with its refinery facilities and some of its oil exploration activities.
However, in the late 1990s, Indonesia’s oil refinery production in Balikpapan declined due to the natural maturation of the existing oil fields combined with a slower reserve replacement rate and a lack of investment to seek new potential oil reserves.
So it was appropriate when former Minister for Natural Resources and Environment Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar pointed out that the relocation of the Indonesian capital to Kalimantan could bring tremendous economic benefits to Sarawak.
Since Jokowi took over as president, he has worked closely with Sarawak to ensure that the ties between Malaysia and Indonesian Kalimantan, especially at the border, is strengthened.
The first border CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine) outpost was established at Tebedu-Entikong – the main gateway to Sarawak; since then the Biawak-Aruk Sajingan outpost in Lundu has also been opened.
Work on the third CIQ in between Ba Kelalan-Long Bawan is underway and could be completed by the end of the year, especially so because it is at the doorstep of Works Minister Baru Bian’s constituency of Ba Kelalan.
Last month after I published a story entitled “A Ghost town called Ba Kelalan” complaining about its bad communications, lack of basic amenities and electricity, I met Baru at the first sitting of the State Legislative Assembly.
He smiled and said: “By early next year you will have another big story about how I am going to restore Ba Kelalan back to its past glory.”
Indeed, Ba Kelalan was flourishing under its former assemblyman Datuk Dr Judson Tagal who was tragically killed in a helicopter crash while surveying the area in 2004.
Judson’s father retired pastor Tagal Paren, 86, told me that after the demise of his son, little was done to implement some of the developmental plans for more than a decade.
No one could fault Baru because he only took over as assemblyman in 2011 after he beat the Barisan Nasional candidate Willie Liau and being in the Opposition, had little influence over the development policy in his homeland.
But now that Baru is in the new federal government and with his determination, I believe the God-fearing Lun Bawang will bring the much-needed development to the constituency.
Two more Sarawak CIQs are in the pipeline at the Long Nawang-Kapit along the Belaga border and Lubuk Antu-Badau in Sri Aman; both of these areas are currently being used as “illegal” entry points into Sarawak and vice versa.
I first used the Lubok Antu-Badau “Jalan Tikus” (illegal entry point) in the 1990s and travelled by motorcycle as far as Putussibau. It is now accessible by a tar-sealed highway.
In 1995, I took the arduous journey from the newly-built Kuching-Tebedu stretch followed by the narrow, long and twisting 570-km road from Pontianak to Putussibau which took 12 hours.
With another five-year term as president, Jokowi is planning to further open up the West Kalimantan hinterland with an improved road system and even a railway line to Putussibau.
Our farsighted Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg was spot-on when he said that there was a possibility that if this happens, then the Lubuk Antu-Badau outpost could have a train connection in the near future.
As to the Long Nawang-Kapit outpost, it may take longer because travellers have to use timber roads within the remote Kapit region which is in the heart of a major Sarawak timber concession.
Two years ago, I visited Long Nawang in the Apo Kayan highlands on the Belaga-Kaltim border and was told there were plans to open up an old jungle route to the town of Kapit.
The Long Nawang residents complained that the Apo Kayan CIQ was long overdue because the mountain enclave is a two-day to a one-week journey by road to Samarinda if anyone wishes to seek medical treatment.
The only other alternative was to travel by rural air service, if flights were available, according to Long Nawang headman Lucas Bilong.
“Times have changed and our people want to keep abreast with the rest of the world in terms of modernisation. We hope we can have a proper road to Sarawak which is dear to our heart,” said Lucas.
He said that Kapit continues to be the “gateway” for the 10,000 Kenyah residents of Apo Kayan who need special medical treatment in cities like Sibu and Kuching.
Despite this, Kalimantan is slowly opening up to greater development and by 2030 we could see a great transformation. Indonesia would have its own trans-Kalimantan highway which will complement the East Malaysian Pan-Borneo highway. By which time we hope to see a united Borneo – a socio-economic entity and a peaceful modern metropolis, which will be the envy of the world!
(Note: Indonesian Kalimantan which is two and a half times the size of Sarawak and Sabah combined, covers an area of 750,000 sq km which consists of five Provinces called “Propinsi”.)
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
