Treasure Found Under The Sidewalk of TB Simatupang Street Has Been Evacuated

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Culture Service, Cultural Conservation Center, and East Jakarta Culture Sub-dept. have evacuated objects suspected of cultural heritage (ODCB) in the form of an 18th-century sugar cane mill.

Head of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Culture Service Iwan Henry Wardhana, Sunday, said the millstone ODCB estimated to be hundreds of years old was found on the sidewalk of TB Simatupang Street, Gedong, Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, and then evacuated to the Condet Cultural Center on Saturday (30/10). for optimal monitoring.

"This is a rescue effort so that the object is more protected because so far it has been on the road pavement which is prone to damage, either due to weather or acts of vandalism," said Iwan in his statement, Sunday, October 31.

Furthermore, Iwan said that apart from being found on TB Simatupang Street, millstone ODCB was also found in Gedong Village, Pasar Rebo District; and Milling Village, Cakung District, East Jakarta.

In the area of the Grinding Village, Iwan said that five millstones were found, then the millstones will be conserved through cleaning and repairs to damaged parts of the object.

Iwan added that he would provide a narration containing information related to the history of the millstone so that people who came to the Condet Cultural Center could find out the history and story of the stone.

Besides being placed at the Condet Cultural Center, currently one of the other millstones is also in the Jakarta History Museum.

As for the history of the stone mill, it is a sugarcane processing tool used in the 17th to 18th centuries AD.

Launching in the writings of Haan (1935: 323-324), there is the term suikermolen which means sugar-making factory. In the 18th century, the term sugar mill referred to a sugar mill with simple traditional equipment that used stones to grind sugar cane.

At that time, sugar became one of the important commodities for trade in the world. Batavia is one of the sugar-producing areas, where the produce is exported to China and Japan.

Sugar production in Batavia was carried out by the Chinese who lived in the Chinatown area. Realizing that sugar production was profitable, the VOC finally made a stipulation that sugar in Batavia must be sold to the VOC, not to be sold to other parties. In fact, the VOC determines the price of sugar.

The year 1710 was the heyday of sugar production in Batavia, where there were 130 Chinese-owned sugar factories, most of which were located around the Ciliwung River.

However, after that, sugar production decreased, which was marked by the reduction of sugar factories. In 1738, there were 80 sugar factories. Then, in 1750, there were 66 sugar factories. Then, in 1786, there were only 44 sugar factories.

After the decline in sugarcane production in Batavia and the exodus of the Chinese from Batavia in 1740, they began to build forts with high fences, hereinafter called China Benteng. One of them, began to build a sugar cane mill to be used as granulated sugar in the Cakung area.

"The process of evacuating millstones from the sidewalk of Jalan TB Simatupang went smoothly with the help and cooperation of the East Jakarta Highways Sub-dept., East Jakarta Fire Management Sub-Department, Gedong Sub-District, and related parties," he said.