Neglected Dutch heritage on West Sumatra’s small islands

Neglected Dutch heritage on West Sumatra’s small islands

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang, West Sumatra | Travel | Wed, April 09 2014, 12:58 PM


Residents live on as trace of Dutch colonial era erodes.

Pisang Gadang Island may only be 2 kilometers in circumference, but it was very important during the Dutch colonial era. It is 1.7 km from Air Manis Beach, a leisure destination in Padang, West Sumatra, known for its Batu Malin Kundang or a folklore-based “curse stone”.

The island served as a port not long after the Dutch East India Company (VOC) took control of Padang in the 17th century. The VOC earlier built a fort for maritime defense, as well as a trade office, on Cingkuak Island, South Pesisir regency, West Sumatra, to ward off the Acehnese as well as British forces.

From Cingkuak, the VOC seized Padang three years later and set up a stronghold and commercial hub in Muara Padang, followed by a port for its monopoly of spices. But as this port was found less suitable for big vessels, the VOC then built a roadstead port (reede in Dutch) on Pisang Gadang, 3.2 km from Muara Padang.

A Dutch colonial map shows that there were once three small wharves on this island’s eastern part. Today only one is left, which is 30 meters long, and a cemetery. This wharf only has its two ends intact, with the middle 13-meter section in ruins. The graveyard is in bad repair, with only a few graves remaining.  

A 2-meter tombstone stands in the graveyard bearing the name of a Dutch naval officer, JP Uyttenhooven, who died in Saribanoa, Sipora Island, on April 13, 1859 at the age of 24. Two other soldiers accompanying him were apparently Javanese and were killed in a Dutch expedition aboard the steamship Montrado deployed to conquer Mentawai.

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