Coal Footprint A Century Ago

Coal in Sawahlunto city is a story aged more than a century. At the city which has a distance of 95 km from Padang city, West Sumatera, a scratch of life story about coal mining is still kept well.

When we step our foot at the center of Sawahlunto city, a trace of old life are scattered at house building, market, and other buildings with Dutch architecture. The center of the city is located in a deep valley so that it is often called "skillet city". If we stand at the upper end of the valley at night, we can see the glowing of lamps from residences at the city. People residences locates around the slope which becomes "the city wall".

The glory of coal city, which contains millions tonnes of coal reserve, frozen at some big old buildings. They are ration building, industrial chimney of coal processing, societet building, railyway station which was the best transportation at that time. However, many remains are obselete, such as Dutch lighthouse.

Some old building have changed their functions. Ration building does not use as a big kitchen as in the old days, the big cooking place to supply food for thousands of coolies and chain person. Chain person was a term for criminal and politic prisoner who were employed as a coal laborer at Dutch era.

Today ration building is used as a museum and is given a name "Goedang Ransoem". At the museum, the history of the old days is still kept well.

"There were hundreds of laborer working in the kitchen. Most of them were children. They were given an easy work as peeling off onion, slicing vegetables, and preparing spices," said Cheris, a chief of team that responsible to take care of historical remains at Sawahlunto city.

"Most of cooking tools kept in the museum comes from local ihabitants live around here. But others are just replica because we did not find the original ones," explained Sri Sedyawati, anthropologist from Andalas University who pioneered the construction of the museum.

Some of cooking tools kept in the museum are giant skillet and frying pan and old compressor. When we look at these tools we can imagine what had happened here in Dutch periode from 1892 to 1942. The Dutch era ended at 1942 when japanese invaded Indonesia.

At that time, cooking did not use wood, gas, or oil, but using steam. The steam was produced by a 1894-germany giant stove. Then the steam were channeled through giant pipes to the kitchen. Coal was also used, but just a small part of it.

After the food was ready, it was delivered to all mining holes scattered in the city. And to safe the time, the coolies ate their food in their holes themselves.

"Most of coolies almost never see the sun because they spent most of their time in the hole," said Erwiza Erman, a historian from LIPI who has spent his time yearly to investigate the activities in sawahlunto coal mining at the year of 1892 to 1996.

We are willing to go into one of the holes in order that we can imagine how is the feeling working hundreds meter deep from surface. Moreover, there is still active mining hole at Parambahan village. But our hope vanishes.

"We apologize that we forbid women enter the hole. This is regulation." said Syafril, a mining businessman.

HOLE IN THE CENTER OF THE TOWN
Fortunately there is a mining hole at the centre of the town repaired by government used as tourist object. So my hope to see the environment in the hole can be answered.

The hole located in ex-residence of laborer is called Mbah Suro hole, a name which remind us a Java accent. Local people actually knew about the hole, but they never thought about it. Especially when Dutch closed it in 1927.

"The hole was opened by the government in July 2007. The hole was full of water and it needed two month to deal it." said Wilizon (51), a hole keeper.

When it was opened, some of petrified human skeletons were found. "there was a cruel story in the hole. Killings between coolies was a usual story at that day," said Erwiza who often travels from sawahlunto to Jakarta or vice versa.

The killings happened because quarrel about food, coal, or homosexual friends. The maskulin mining world made coolies become homosexual. Almost there are no women in the coal mining, even today. If there are women, they does not enter the hole. They work far outside it.

When we enter the mining hole at the centre of Sawahlunto, we will feel the life of the mining that ever labored thousands of people at a time. Lanes with 1,5 m width and 3 m height have black walls. At that walls, people would find coal. Coal became black gold for Dutch colonial government a that time and becomes one of local peole incomes today.

Although oxigen has been pumped to the hole, we are still hard to breath. Imagine what coolies felt hundred years ago. While coolies were having their difficult time, colonial officers held parties at Societet building, which is now to be The Cultural Information Center of Sawahlunto city. When colonial officers were dancing and drinking at Societet, coolies spent their time playing cards or watching Ronggeng dance.
(Agnes Rita Sulistyawati - Kompas)