Saumlaki is a town in
Tanimbar Islands Regency
Tanimbar Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Tanimbar) is a regency of Maluku province, Indonesia, consisting primarily of the Tanimbar Islands
The Tanimbar Islands, also called ''Timur Laut'', are a group of about 65 islands in the Mal ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. It is the seat of Tanimbar Islands Regency, as well as the biggest town in the island of
Yamdena
Yamdena (spelt Jamdena during the Dutch colonial period) is the largest of the Tanimbar Islands in the Maluku Province of Indonesia. Saumlaki is the chief town, located on the south end of the island.
The island has a range of forested hills al ...
. Previously a small village, it has grown to a relatively sizeable town due to its political status as a regency seat. Most of the regency's infrastructure is concentrated in Saumlaki. The administrative location of the town is in the ''
kelurahan
In Indonesia, village or subdistrict is the fourth-level subdivision below a district, regency/city, and province. There are a number of names and types for villages in Indonesia, with ''desa'' (rural village) being the most frequently used for re ...
'' (subdistrict) of Saumlaki, inside South Tanimbar district. The urban settlement extends outside of the administrative boundaries to surrounding subdistricts such as the villages of Olilit and Sifnana.
Geography
The town of Saumlaki does not have a legal administrative boundary. However, the urban population is concentrated on the subdistrict of Saumlaki, which is the town proper. The town extends outside of the proper subdistrict to the neighbouring Olilit and Sifnana. The soil formation in the town consists of limestone formed from dead corals as well as relatively young sediments.
The town has an average annual rainfall of with the highest amount of rainfall in January and the lowest in August. Between April and September, the wind comes from Australia, and is generally drier and causes less rainfall than usual. The average temperature of the town is between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius, with December being the hottest month.
Economy
The main economic sources of the town are
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and
fishery
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...
, including
cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...
,
water spinach
''Ipomoea aquatica'', widely known as water spinach, is a semi- aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots. ''I. aquatica'' is generally believed to have been first domesticated in Southeast Asia. It is widely cultivate ...
,
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
,
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
, and
pineapple
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...
. Livestock farming, mainly of
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
s and
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
s, also contributes to the economy. About 2,208 tons of fish were caught from waters around Saumlaki in 2020.
Further economic potential comes from natural gas exploration, especially Masela Bloc, located from the Saumlaki. The bloc is expected to be managed by
Inpex
INPEX (Invention and New Product Exposition) is America's largest invention trade show, held since 1985 and organized by the invention promotion firm InventHelp. The annual show is held each June in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
INPEX provides a fo ...
's child company Inpex Masela and production is expected to begin around 2027. However, disagreements over local government ownership of the project have delayed the project. There have been some controversies surrounding the exploration, especially regarding the local government's participation interest that would be obliged to own minimum 10% of production's ownership. The regency government expected to supposedly own 5.6% from the 10% participation interest, but the provincial government in Ambon expected it to be just 3% while the rest would be divided equally to all regencies in the
Maluku province
Maluku is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It comprises the central and southern regions of the Maluku Islands. The main city and capital of Maluku province is Ambon, Maluku, Ambon on the small Ambon Island. The land area is 62, ...
. This has caused ongoing conflict between the provincial government and the regency government over the ownership of the company's 10% minimum obliged by the law.
Infrastructure
Education
![School in Saumlaki](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/School_in_Saumlaki.png)
There are five elementary schools in Saumlaki subdistrict, three in Olilit, and two in Sifnana. There are two junior high schools in Saumlaki, three in Olilit, and one in Sifnana, while the numbers of senior high schools in the town are two in Saumlaki, one in Olilit, and one in Sifnana. There are also four vocational high schools: two in Saumlaki, and one each in Olilit and Sifnana.
In addition, there are three higher education institutions registered with the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Indonesian: ''Kementerian Pendidikan, Kebudayaan, Riset, dan Teknologi,'' abbreviated ''Kemdikbudristek'') is a government ministry of the Indonesian government responsible for educat ...
: Saumlaki College of Economy, Saumlaki College of Administration, and Saumlaki Teaching College. All three colleges are private and owned by Rumpun Lelemuku Saumlaki Higher Learning Foundation.
There are other higher education institutions in the town, but they are not accredited or registered with the Ministry of Education and residents of the town have been urged to avoid enrolling there as they have no legal standing.
The creation of illegal and unregistered colleges in the town has been described by the General Chief of Private College Coordinator, who oversees private colleges under the government, as "like mushrooms growing in the rainy season" and a serious problem to the town.
Residents have criticized these colleges for spreading pamphlets around the town for recruitment and causing confusion among parents.
Healthcare
![Mathilda Batlayeri Airport](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Mathilda_Batlayeri_Airport.png)
There are two hospitals in the town, Fatima Hospital located in Saumlaki subdistrict and Dr. P. P. Magretti Saumlaki Regional Hospital located in Olilit. There are also two
puskesmas
Puskesmas ( id, Pusat Kesehatan Masyarakat, ) are government-mandated community health clinics located across Indonesia. They are overseen by the Indonesian Ministry of Health and provide healthcare for the population on sub-district level. ...
, of which one has inpatient care facilities, and 9 registered pharmacies. The Dr. P. P. Magretti Saumlaki Regional Hospital is a public hospital owned by the regency government and is classified as a D-class hospital by the Ministry of Health. It is the larger of the two hospitals.
Fatima Hospital is privately owned and also classified as D-class.
Transportation
Public transportation in the town consists of
angkot that have regular tracks regulated by the regency government.
The town is served by the small port of Saumlaki, which has regular routes to neighbouring towns such as Dobo in
Aru Islands Regency
The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a po ...
. In 2021, the
Indonesian Navy
The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol I ...
built a new naval base in the town which includes bigger port facilities capable of handling ships of to 12,000GT. The town was previously served by Olilit Airport, which was later replaced with the bigger
Mathilda Batlayeri Airport. The airport served around 24,000 passengers in 2020, both in departures and arrivals.
The town is also connected through the
Sea Toll Program
The Sea Toll Program (Indonesian: ''Tol Laut''), sometimes called the Sea Highway Program, is a program initiated by Indonesian president Joko Widodo. Its aim is to reduce price disparity between the main islands of Indonesia and smaller isolated ...
for passengers and movement of basic goods.
Others
The town is the only place in the district that has banks, which include four state-owned banks, two private banks, and one
people's credit bank (BPR).
References
{{reflist
Populated places in Maluku (province)
Regency seats of Maluku (province)