THE yellow bulldozer was rumbling. Its arms and wheels were moving piles of earth along the Serapuh village road in Semangga district, Merauke, Papua. By noon on Thursday in mid-September, the heavy-duty vehicle had made hundreds of meters of village paths smooth. Some of them were even concreted over or asphalted. Their final destination is the agricultural area owned by the regency administration and PT Medco, 1 kilometer from Serapuh.

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