Papua
Ewer
Man, this strip doesn't look any less scary when you can see it. This is going to be about a hundred foot run, then a forty foot drop. Here goes.
Scenic kind of place.
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We need to find us a valley to follow.
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Here's one.
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Danaua Tage, one of the Paniai lakes. The Indonesian Military burned all of the forests surrounding these lakes in 2000 so that they couldn't harbour Papuan Separatists. The resulting sedimentation in the lakes caused a flood in 2011 when the lakes overflowed, covering the surrounding land with up to four meters of water.
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But we're a ways off course. Back into the soup.
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Aim for the green thing.
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Yay. Out of the mountains.
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Timika. A bustling metropolis of 130,000. Its main industry is mining, which is very profitable for the Indonesian government and the foreign interests who own the mines. But the presence of foreign mines - even if they are Indonesian they are still considered to be foreign by most Papuans - is a flash point in the region. It seems to have caused a curse of violence in the area.In 1996 there was a riot against the U.S. owned PT Freeport mine. Two rioters were killed, apparently after losing control of a mining vehicle that they had stolen. The Indonesian army was deployed and stationed at the nearby Mozes Kilangin Airport. Although the true motive will never be known, it is speculated that a reprimand from another officer put a Kopassus (special forces trained in unconventional warfare) officer over the edge and he went on a shooting spree killing 16 and wounding another dozen. In 2019 a number of Papuan students in Surabaya "disrespected the Indonesian flag" and were arrested. there was a protest turned riot over this in Timika that saw 30 people killed. In 2017, the West Papua Liberation Army warned employees of the Grasburg Gold Mine (A PT Freeport subsidiary) to leave "the battle zone". In 2020 eight armed men from this militant political faction made good their threat, circumventing over a thousand guards and hundreds more private security personnel to attack the mine, killing one and wounding four. And the list goes on. Looks like a pretty place from the air though. |
Getting near the coast, and our destination.
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Airport dead ahead apparently.
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I guess. Anyhow, this is Ewer. See ya tomorrow, if they mow the grass here frequently. otherwise it's been nice knowing you.
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