Wamena, Jubi – Dozens of residents from the Upper Wouma and Lower Wouma of Jayawijaya Regency, Mountainous Papua Province blocked road access, precisely at the junction of Wouma, Welesi and Assolokobal which connects Wamena and Kurima.
Based on Jubi‘s observation, dozens of residents have blocked road access and burned car tires in the middle of the road since Wednesday morning, January 18, 2023, at 9 a.m. local time.
One of the action coordinators, Kaitanus Ikinea, said the reason for blocking the road access was related to the planned grant of 72 hectares of land by the Welesi community to the Mountainous Papua Provincial Government.
Some time ago, representatives of the Welesi Customary Territory Care Team came to the Governor’s office and met with Mountainous Papua Acting Governor Nikolaus Kondomo and Acting Secretary Sumule Tumbo discussing the plan to grant 72 hectares of land to the provincial government.
The people, however, disputed because the land offered are borders between the Welesi and Wouma regions. The Wouma residents said there was no coordination or joint meeting involving them regarding the land grant.
Jayawijaya Police chief Adj. Sr. Hesman Napitupulu who arrived at the location of the blockade, then made negotiation efforts with local residents.
Napitupulu invited Wouma residents to the police headquarters to discuss the problem. The residents were willing to reopen access to the road and extinguish the fire so that the traffic flow returned to normal.
Furthermore, at the Jayawijaya Police Headquarters, residents of Upper and Lower Wouma discussed the issue with community leaders and the Mountainous Papua Administration officials.(*)
