Analisis Kritis Infrastruktur dan Layanan Dasar Kawasan Transmigrasi Tasifeto–Mandeu: Temuan Lapangan dan Strategi Pengembangan Berkelanjutan

Abstract

The Tasifeto–Mandeu Transmigration Area in Belu Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, exhibits dynamic development progress but remains constrained by the limited quality of its basic infrastructure. Field evaluations involving 165 respondents confirm that road accessibility, availability of clean water, electricity stability, and the distribution of health and education services continue to pose major challenges to the sustainability of the area. Infrastructure disparities across subdistricts—particularly in hilly regions such as Lamaknen and South Lamaknen—hamper the mobility of dryland agricultural commodities and weaken residents’ access to essential public services. The SWOT analysis further demonstrates that the area possesses strengths in land availability and relative fertility, a predominantly productive-age population, and strong potential for food crop development. However, its principal weaknesses include poor road networks, limited health facilities, weak village-level economic institutions, and reliance on seasonal water sources. Significant opportunities arise from government development programs, the area’s strategic border position that opens market access, and the potential for agroforestry and climate-adaptive food crops. Yet threats such as drought risk, land degradation, structural poverty, and climate variability constrain the effectiveness of development interventions. Accordingly, infrastructure strengthening becomes a prerequisite for translating the area’s potential into tangible growth: improving road networks to connect production centers, developing clean water systems grounded in resource conservation, enhancing the quality of health and education services, and revitalizing local institutions to support the area’s economic development. These findings underscore that the development of Tasifeto–Mandeu will only be sustainable if infrastructure interventions are designed in alignment with ecological risk contexts and complemented by strong socio-institutional support for transmigrant communities.