Subsidy for essential supplies

PUNCAK JAYA, Papua:Residents of Mulia in the isolated Puncak Jaya regency in Papua are due to receive subsidies from the Puncak Jaya administration for the transportation of basic food supplies, a report said.

Puncak Jaya regency administration secretary Henok Ibo said on Sunday that the subsidies, allocated in the 2002 Puncak Jaya regency budget, had been authorized to prevent Puncak Jaya residents from having to pay too much for commodities like sugar, rice and instant noodles.

Puncak Jaya, located in the mountainous hinterland of Papua, is one of the most isolated places in Indonesia considering that there are absolutely no roads connecting it to the other regencies in Papua, so that it can only be reached by air.

The aircraft normally used to reach the area include small planes like Twin Otters, Pilatus Porters, Caravans and Cessnas.

Since all essential supplies from the Papuan capital Jayapura are transported to Puncak Jaya by air, prices are automatically much higher.

For example, sugar, which is sold in Jayapura at Rp 5,000 a kilogram, goes for Rp 20,000 a kilogram in Mulia, and rice, sold at Rp 3,000 a kilogram in Jayapura, fetches up to Rp 20,000 in Mulia. --Antara