Irianese still waiting for their ballot papers

Irianese still waiting for their ballot papers

By Neles Tebai

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): While citizens in several provinces
are praying the campaign season and elections will be safe, those
in far flung areas such as Irian Jaya are not even sure whether
the ballot papers will arrive on time.

As of Wednesday -- barely three weeks ahead of the June 7 --
ballot papers had only reached a few of the regencies, including
Merauke and Manokwari, in the province of 421,981 square
kilometers.

"If ballot papers from Jakarta have not arrived two weeks
before June 7, the election is not likely to take place at many
polling stations," the provincial head of the elections
committee, Ben Vincen Djeharu, told The Jakarta Post last Friday.

Head of the administration's social political department Wempy
Wola, said out of Irian's 173 districts, more than 100 are
inaccessible by land and can only be reached by sea or air.

The secretariat of Irian's elections committee has said that
more than half of the eligible voters have registered, and will
announce the most up-to-date figures on Saturday. In the 1997
polls, Irian Jaya had 1,146,944 voters.

The capital of Fakfak regency can only be reached by a Twin
Otter once a week from Sorong. Commercial flights are limited to
Merpati for the whole province.

"So if ballot papers arrive two weeks (before the polls) in
Sorong, they can only be transported when there is a plane to
Fakfak. If in one week the plane does not come, transportation
(for the papers) will have to wait at least another week," Wempy
said.

When ballot papers finally do reach Fakfak, the regional
elections committee would have to send them on to districts which
can only be reached by motor boat.

Then the papers must be transported through rivers or on foot.
So at least two weeks is needed for papers to reach villages from
the provincial capital.

In Puncak Jaya regency the only way to reach Mulia, its
capital, is by a Mission Aviation Fellowship plane run by a
network of Protestant churches. Such a trip is dependent on
weather conditions.

From Mulia, the nearest district, Sinak, is a 14-hour journey
on foot, up mountains and down valleys. From Sinak, the ballot
papers then travel along longer trails to villages.

Nicolaus Tebay, an elections committee worker in Sinak, told
the Post that to reach the Bina village from the district, a two-
day trip on foot was necessary.

Cloud cover

In Jayawijaya, four district capitals are located on the Papua
New Guinea border, and are only accessible by small planes. These
are the districts of Oksibil, Okbibab, Kiwirok and Borme.

The ballot papers are flown from Jayapura to Wamena, the
location of the regional elections committee, where committee
staff distribute them according to the number of registered
voters in respective districts.

The committee must then send the papers to all districts. But
first they have to be sent back to Jayapura where a Cessna is
available to fly them to the districts in Wamena.

A priest of Okbibab district, Wilhelmus Sinawil, told the Post
that the Cessna from Jayapura to Abmisibil, the district capital,
only flies in the morning. "After 11 a.m. clouds virtually block
the runway," he said of the mountain district.

Flights run by the Association Mission Aviation, run by the
Catholic churches, are usually planned every week.

The director, Piet Bots, told the Post Tuesday that the
mission "is ready to help make the elections a success", and
would prepare planes when requested to carry ballot papers.

Another problem, said Wempy, the official at the provincial
administration, was that members of the regional elections
committee of Jayawijaya were all in Wamena.

"So who is going to take care of sending the papers from
Jayapura to the Okbibab district?" he said.

From Abmisibil, Okbibab's capital, the ballot papers would,
again, take a few hours to a few days to reach villages.

Hilarius Pekei, a student from Okbibab, said the distance from
the district capital to one of the villages, Taramlu, is five to
six days and the trek involves steep trails up and down hills.

The alternative, at least to areas where planes can travel, is
to charter planes, such as those from the missions.

"One hour rental is about US$3,000," Wempy said. So the
regional elections committee would, for instance, have to provide
$9,000 for a return flight between Jayapura and Okbibab.

Flight delays are also caused by unexpected reasons, such as
when pilots are taken ill or when planes have technical trouble.

Water transportation is equally unpredictable.

From Timika in Mimika regency to the village of Potoway Buru,
transportation takes two to three days. To another village called
Kokonau, one day is needed to traverse rivers.

From Nabire regency to one of the districts, Yaur, ballot
papers would be transported for a whole day by sea, and could be
delayed for up to several days depending on the weather.

So presuming all pilots are healthy, all planes and boats are
technically trouble-free and are not needed for any other urgent
mission, and all messengers are fit for their days of trekking,
the provincial election committee hopes that approximately one
million ballot papers will soon arrive in Jayapura.