Page 260 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

Around the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, some change started to take place when
the people of Papua in certain ethnic groups began to establish some contact with the
migrants. This was caused by the fact that the farming activities no longer relied only on
paddy sector, but also on the planting of crops, vegetable, and some other commodities
such as cocoa and coffee, which some ethnic Papuans could accept. A transfer of knowledge
from the migrants to the farmers, especially to women began to happen, regarding things
like how to plant crops, how to grow vegetables and other crops, so that now there are
some people of Papua who know about horticulture. However, this did not spread widely
to Papuans in general, because the settlements of the local population and the indigenous
population still were separate. So the question arises about what the purpose of the
transmigration program was and who was the main beneficiary. This had led to resistance
in some areas that would be designated as the target of transmigration program in Papua.
The rejection was also caused by the exclusivity of the homesteaders and migrants who
were not very open to the native people. The two communities lived separately and rarely
interacted or socialized.
The number of migrants increased with the implementation of local transmigration
program from 1999 to 2003, when 405 families (1,849 people) of the Papuans were
resettled in transmigration sites that have been prepared by the Nabire government. The
participants came from various ethnic groups including Javanese, Sundanese, NTB, NTT
and Papuans (Parera, 2014: 6-10). In some other transmigration locations, there were also
participants originating from Sumatra and South Sulawesi. It is estimated that up to 2014,
the total population of Papua and West Papua (natives and immigrants), totaled 3,919,340
million people (Badan Pusat Statistik, 2014a, b).
In Maluku, the transmigration program had been going on since the 1950s, and
continued in the 1960s. Migrants were placed in several large islands in Maluku. In the
process, many children of these migrants became civil servants, self-employed and other
workers. In Central Maluku, the migrants were placed in the villages of Waimital, Waihatu,
and Waipirit West Seram. These areas including North Seram and Buru later developed
into the granary for Maluku.
In the context of food security and food self-sufficiency, since 1994, 1,150 hectares of
paddy fields in West Ceram and North Seram have been established. Rice has shifted the
role of papeda and tubers as the staple food of Maluku. It has also happened in Papua. Sago
has become an expensive item, because not many people tap sago for trading anymore.
Most people in Maluku began to change profession to become home industry traders, civil
servants and other kinds of work.

260 Chapter 6

MELANESIA BOOK FA LAYOUT 051216.indd 260 2/10/17 2:11 PM