Papuan Bay’s at Risk
Dozens of structures, shops, and illegal stalls are mushrooming on the shores of Youtefa Bay in Jayapura, Papua, which is a protected forest zone. Mangrove forests are cut, land is filled and zoned. A number of Papuan officials are allegedly the owners of structures on the Holtekamp Beach area. The rowing venue construction project for the National Sports Week (PON), to be held next year, is believed to not have a permit. The environmental damage is increasingly threatening the sustainability of the waters and mangrove forests’ ecosystem, and the lives of the community on the shores of Youtefa Bay. This report is written in cooperation of Tempo magazine, Tempo Institute, and Jubi.co.id.
Gabriel Wahyu Titiyoga
October 5, 2020
BANNERS flutter in front of a site by the intersection of Abepura-Keerom road near the Holtekamp Beach in Jayapura, Papua, in the middle of August. On the site is what seems like an unfinished bungalow, but already equipped with electricity. Its walls are adorned with birds of paradise images, and the roof is green. Across from the building are rows of traders’ stalls.
That structure and the site, measuring about a hectare, is closed
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