Starting from the Valley Waeapo

TERIK scorching sun no longer ignored Suradi ( 68 ) . With bare-chested , former political prisoners exiled to Buru Island , Maluku , in 1969 due to alleged involvement in the Indonesian Communist Party continues to flip through the drying of grain in front of her house with a rake .
Incidentally , the new rice harvest Suradi . The results are pretty good . 1 hectare rice field can produce 3 tons of grain . " Although the results were not as many as in Java , this is pretty good , " said the skinny man , whose face adorned wrinkles , with a Javanese accent still thick , it is .
The man from Yogyakarta it is the first generation B -class political prisoners or were never prosecuted , which arbitrarily thrown into Buru . The island is located in the northwest of the Banda Sea , which can only be reached by fast boat from Ambon for four hours or overnight by ferry .Sepatu Kantor Laki-Laki
1965 Suradi arrested and thrown in prison Bantul , Yogyakarta. From there , he moved to the island of Nusakambangan , Cilacap , Central Java , before being taken to the island of Buru . At that time , he was 19 years old , and Suradi not understand , how he is just a lowly civil servant in the Unitary Republic of Indonesia Air Force Maguwo associated with the banned organization .
KOMPAS / RADITYA HELABUMI remains the building which used to house meetings and art of political prisoners in Savanadjaja , Namlea , Buru Island , Maluku , on Wednesday ( 06/19/2013 ) .1969 , Suradi with about 300 political prisoners ( prisoners ) sent to Buru Island . They are first generation residents Buru prisoners . Once docked at the pier Namlea , capital of Buru district today , the prisoners were taken by boat to the beach Sanleko (Air Mandidih ) near Namlea .
In his book , Political Prisoners Buru , 2001, Ig Krisnadi writing , mass arrests of those suspected of involvement PKI and wings make the houses crowded detention in Indonesia . New Order regime tried to overcome by designing a resettlement program outside Java . One of them on the island of Buru , with the name of the installation of rehabilitation . It is said that the island has been studied as a resettlement site . The current government intends to develop the location saves costs through labor of political prisoners .
" Conjure " rock hill
At that time , according to Suradi , Buru really still " virgin " . Surrounding forests are very dense . Very large trunk . Observations Compass , Va. Waeapo that time as " natural prison " , basin topography of land , which is locked continuous cliff .
Under the gun muzzle soldiers , young men who were convicted by the court without serving as romusha the Japanese era . In addition to the barracks where they live, they are also building houses the army barracks .
KOMPAS / FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO Various crops raised ready to ship in the harbor pioneer Larat Island , the capital of North Tanimbarese District , West Southeast Maluku , Maluku on Monday ( 10/14/2013 ) . Although the arrival time can not be ascertained , the ship became the main transportation pioneer residents of the island because there are no other inter-island transportation and affordable pricing .Furthermore , another wave of political prisoners began to arrive until 1972 . A total of around 10,000 people . " The first few months , we slept in the open air . Mosquito bites become commonplace . Are not strong , definitely sick , "said the married Sus Suradi Pujianti , the first wave of migrants from East Java . Suradi three children now live in Java .
Initially , they built nine settlements . Then , to 22 units spread across the valley . Each unit consists of dozens of political prisoners barracks inhabited 500-1000 .
Road infrastructure is also built to connect one unit to another even if the process is just a hoe , and saws . The prisoners also remodel sago forests and savannas so agriculture , building water supply and irrigation canals , and build bridges to the sluice . To do it , they are divided into several groups . For example , there is a process the salt , making brown sugar , to become a blacksmith .Sepatu Kerja Elegan
Pramoedya Ananta Toer , a poet who is also ex- political prisoners Buru Island , wrote in his novel , The Mute's Soliloquy (1995 ) . He tells the story , the prisoners are not only meritorious open land in the lowlands near the river Waeapo niche , but also dismantle the forest on the hillside and make it rain fed .
Mass activity is quite striking political prisoners among the natives of Buru in the vicinity of the shelter at that time amounted to hundreds of lives . At that time , local residents living hunting , berhuma , and look for sago . Buru interaction with prisoners who are far more advanced civilizations change their lives . Mukadar abdullah , community leaders Buru Island , said , initially , the houses in the interior of Buru people use sago frond . " After seeing the prisoners to make it home , they began to build the house with the board , " he said .
KOMPAS / RADITYA HELABUMI remains the building which used to house meetings and art of political prisoners in Savanadjaja , Namlea , Buru Island , Maluku , on Wednesday ( 06/19/2013 ) .In fact , Abdullah continued , some of the residents in the coastal Namlea , formerly fishermen , turned into farmers . In short , the arrival of the prisoners and lifting economic migrants Buru . Head of Agriculture Buru Wara noted , there are now 19,500 farmers with an area of ​​6,648 hectares , which produces 20,000 tonnes of rice per year .
Village Secretary Savanajaya Wasimun Suardi , who is also former child prisoner , said , since 2006 , District Waeapo a granary Buru , besides being a food reserve .
Waeapo down the valley , is now not only a light breeze and the splashing of the water , but the cradle of a new civilization that built through bloodshed , tears , and sweat .