Irian Jaya : the transformation of a Melanesian economy

Abstract

In 1963 Indonesia took over the former Dutch colony of West New Guinea. In the decade since, this large resource-rich Melanesian area, now Irian Jaya, has undergone rapid change to become an integrated province of the comparatively resource-poor Republic of Indonesia. Under the culturally alien Dutch administration change was slow and felt predominantly in the towns. Under the equally alien Indonesian administration the pace of change has accelerated and the effects have been more dramatic, even traumatic. Irian Jaya towns have now been substantially integrated into the Indonesian system - development programs have had marked effects on education, money, labour and commodity markets, transport and communications, and the utilisation of forest, mineral and fish resources. These effects have not always benefited the Irianese people and the gap between the modern economy and the villages still pursuing a Melanesian way of life is increasing. The Irian Jaya experience, traced in this book, is of great importance to those concerned with the future of Papua New Guinea, of the Melanesian economies to its east, and of the Southeast Asian economies to its west. Little use has so far been made of this rich source of comparative data and the authors have here, for the first time, assembled in a concise and interesting form Irian Jaya{u2019}s responses to its experience.