Awaiting Decent Housing on the Papuan Coast

School fees are always the priority for Fedrika Karolina Wader, who lives in a modest 5×8 metre house with her husband and five children in Tanjung Ria, Jayapura City, Papua. The desire to repair their increasingly dilapidated home has repeatedly been postponed because most of her husband’s income as a traditional fisherman is spent on daily meals, school supplies, and fishing costs. Consequently, home repairs are always relegated to the bottom of the list. “Our eldest child has finished school but hasn’t found a job yet, and there are four more still in school,” said Fedrika, who has occupied the house for 22 years.

In her neighbourhood, the majority of residents are fishing families. Most of the houses are in a deplorable condition. The wooden floors are visibly rotting, eaten away by the sea air due to their coastal location. Leaking roofs are patched up haphazardly with scraps of corrugated iron. “Meeting daily needs alone is not enough, let alone repairing the house,” said the local neighbourhood head, Danyo Ayomi.

According to Danyo, some houses in the area lack bathrooms, while others are occupied by more than one family. Economic hardship forces many families to delay home improvements because daily necessities are more pressing. The residents’ houses are typically small, like Fedrika’s. There are no partitions separating the space for gathering, sleeping, and cooking. All activities are conducted in a single room. Some houses also lack adequate sanitation facilities. Fedrika’s family is considered fortunate because they can live together in one house; one of her neighbour’s homes is occupied by as many as five families.