Julius Boy BidayuhThis trip to the area immediately adjacent to neighboring Malaysia, which is in District Entikong Sanggau West Kalimantan Province. After traveling overland from Pontianak city along the + – 390 km in 5 hours, we arrived at the District Essay Hall Sekayam Sanggau. Here we met with youth leaders the border which is also the Chairman of the Presidium Establishment of District Sekayam Kingdom, Christo S. Lomon. The results of our conversation with him, we know the progress and underdevelopment experienced by Indonesia Malaysia border communities in Sanggau this.
Authorship of the District Hall Sekayam we continued our journey to the village of Pala tides in District Entikong. Nutmeg village plug can be reached by road using two-wheel motor vehicles pass through the gravel roads and steep hills, and can also pass through the river path Sekayam using motorized boat.
Route we choose, along the river flow Sekayam using motorized boat which is one of the accesses to the hamlets and remote villages that direct border with Malaysia in West Kalimantan. After three hours of fighting the swift currents of the river Sekayam and past rocky rapids, we finally arrived in the village of Pala tides.
The villagers are mostly work as farmers, who depend on growing rice, vegetables, black pepper and other plants. Results of farming is largely determined by the weather and fertilizer to increase the fertility of the plant. Given the remoteness of the area, resulting in the local community of trouble getting supplies of fertilizer and sell the produce from their plants.
Local fertilizer they use such kind of NPK and others are not suitable for pepper plants in this area, many farmers experience crop failure due to plants wither and die, thus forcing the local people to buy fertilizer from Malaysia that can be found in the center of the District Entikong.
At harvest time, the crops they get sold to Malaysia because the closer the distance, compared to the district center Entikong. They walk for 1 hour along the trail, small rivers, and past the post border guards who kept members of the army.
As for the demand for electricity, PLN has not been able to meet people’s needs in this area, due to inadequate infrastructure and great distances between pairs nutmeg village and sub-district center Entikong.
To counteract the limitations of this information, in 2010 the local residents worked together to build micro hydro power plant, taking advantage of the swift flow of the river water Sekayam. With the assistance of the central government through PNPM (National Program for Community Empowerment) to buy a generator engine while working to build community work together for the realization of lighting in remote areas along this border.
