faraway

At the beginning of June, I travelled to Kutai Kertanegara District in East Kalimanatan Province to observe Indonesia's first local and direct executive election.

I began election day early at 6am. My observation team included Mimy Santika from USAID, Senji and Firman from my local partner, Pokja 30. As we left the Singasana Hotel, mist clung to the contours of Tenggarong City, Kutai Kertanegara Distict's capital. We began by observing several polling stations in Tenggarong including a showcase station where the incumbent candidate, Syaukani, cast his ballot amidst a scrum of media. Most stations were set-up well although voters were scarce. After seeing several stations in the city, we decided to check out a few upriver. In particular, we were curious about the so-called "floating polling stations" which had been established following the flooding which had inundated several rural regions several weeks prior to the election.

We headed out of Tenggarong by car along the course of the Mahakam River and soon came to a smaller tributary, the Jembaya River. Here we boarded a thin river craft which the locals call a "longboat". Several other passengers came aboard as well. The longboat pushed off and with a great buzz of its motor sliced away up the river.

East Kalimantan is dominated by majestic rivers like the well known Mahakam which carry much of the economic lifeblood of the province. The Jembayan is a brown liquid highway bearing the traffic of the river people up and downsteam. We passed other longboats, "ketingting" cargo boats carrying lumber, fishing boats and flats of timber lashed together and floated downriver. A dilapidated bridge was being used as a fishing spot for a couple of men.

The river is enclosed by massive green walls of trees and vine. Occassionally the green walls give way to a village of wooden houses standing on stilts at the edge of the river. The grey planks of these houses are festooned with colourful laundry drying in the sun and blackened pots hung over the water. Many of the villages have riverside mosques.

After an hour and half speeding up the river, we arrive at Sungai Payan, a town which straddles the large stretch of the river. A large wooden bridge casts a shadow across the dock where we come ashore. On either side of the river, wooden houses huddle around the bridge. We climb slippery and rickety stairs up to the main street of the town.

After reporting at the town election office, we go in seach of the "floating polling station". It appears four days before the election, the flood waters receeded. The floating polling station was never floating in the first place. Instead the local election authorities placed it on the highest ground they could find: at the intersection of two roads. They are quick to tell us that they consulted villagers who use the road that they would be blocking it. In anycase, election day is a holiday so there is not much traffic. After observing the station for an hour, we head back.