Old buildings in Padang in danger of disappearing

Imran Rusli, The Jakarta Post, Padang, West Sumatra

The West Sumatra public works office and several office buildings were located near the port, in addition to a building with thick and high walls that was a military warehouse and was never idle.

Near the estuary, on the banks of Batang Arau River, a large building owned by Nederlandsch Handels Maatsschappij (NHM) stood tough. Various private companies, insurance companies and banks mostly, were located in the NHM building. Since the early 20th century, large companies like Houten Steffan, Guntzel & Schumacher, Veth, Geo Wehry, Jacobson van den Berg, Tels & Co., Internatio and others were located near the building.

There was a small square with a beautiful park in the vicinity. In De Greve Square stood a small monument to commemorate De Greve, founder of the Ombilin coal mine, near Sawahlunto.

These were the glimpses of Padang city in the early 20th century. The city was bustling during this period, being both a trade center and also functioning as a Dutch military stronghold in Sumatra.

Besides housing military barracks and storehouses for such products as coffee, nutmeg and cloves, Padang was once also crammed with the offices of well-known private firms like Geo Wehry and Jacobson van den Berg. Now these once busy buildings have become dilapidated and abandoned.

Many of the buildings have been left neglected, others have been rented out by their owners -- state-owned export and import companies Tjipta Niaga and Pantja Niaga.

The Minang Heritage Society records 74 old buildings in Padang that are protected by Law No. 5/1992 on heritage sites and historic buildings.

That number is still small compared to the number of historic objects in Padang that deserve to be protected, said Rika Cheris, a former executive director of the West Sumatra Heritage Society who is also one of the founders of the Minang Heritage Society.

"Probably, the government has intentionally left some of the objects unprotected so they could be sold to the private sector," she said.

Sri Setyawati, a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Andalas University and a cofounder of the Minang Heritage Society, expressed the same concern.

Concern for Padang's heritage really began in earnest several years back, particularly after the provincial government, the Padang municipality and state-owned companies in Jakarta, began to sell off several of their old buildings to the private sector.

One social organization in Padang, for example, determined to acquire the Himpunan Bersatu Teguh (HBT) building, which it had long occupied, from the government, which tried to sell it to the organization.

The HBT building swap, also involving a sports hall on Jl. H. Agus Salim, will be officially signed by the government and the social organization in May. Besides that, several historic buildings at Muara Port have also been sold to the private sector.

While there were no objections if the government wanted to renovate the buildings, problems did arise when the government tore down Padangsch Warenhuis, located behind Wisma Penyalur, and constructed a new building on the land.

Even though Firman Dalil MTP, head of the Padang City Planning Office, said Padangsh Warenhuis was not classified as a historic building and therefore was not protected, there was a public outcry over its destruction.

"From the architecture alone, the building was unquestionably categorized as historic and protected," said Rika.

There are few public records of the building, but according to Maimunah, 90, the building was formerly the biggest store in Padang.

"Officials, employees and Dutch girls used to shop there all the time," said Maimunah. The former translator and Dutch language teacher just shook her head when told that the municipality claimed it was not a historic building.

"The building was there before the 20th century. How come it is not a historic building?" she asked.

But such complaints rarely have an effect. Old buildings in Padang continue to be torn down and replaced by modern structures. The heritage society is concerned that if this continues, "Old Padang" will fade into history.