Ombilin Coal Mine in Sawahlunto, 1900s

Photo: Jean Demmeni/Universiteit Leiden

The photo above is the Ombilin coal mining area in Sawahlunto, West Sumatra around the 1900s. The oldest coal mining area in Southeast Asia is located in a valley surrounded by hills in the Bukit Barisan range.

Sawahlunto was once a small and remote village in the middle of the wilderness, with a population of around 500 people, then quickly turned into a coal mining center in its time.

It all started with the discovery of coal reserves by the Dutch East Indies government in 1868. It was estimated that coal deposits in Sawahlunto reached 205 million tons.

The construction of coal mines began in 1876, the Dutch East Indies government invested around 5.5 million guilders to build settlements and mining facilities in Ombilin.

In addition, a 100-kilometer railway line was also built, from Sawahlunto to Padang. The locomotives and mining equipment were imported directly from Germany.

15 years later, the first mining was carried out in Sungai Durian village, the coal produced was said to be of very good quality.

The Ombilin coal mine was the only one in the Dutch East Indies, until the 1930s, Sawahlunto's coal production had met 90 percent of the energy needs of the Dutch East Indies.

Thanks to the coal mines, Sawahlunto became a big city on the west coast of Sumatra after Padang at that time.

This mining business reached its peak in the 1920s, with thousands of workers both native and Dutch. The Ombilin Coal Mine in Sawahlunto is now a world cultural heritage site designated by UNESCO.