Survey-parties (survey-parties) were groups of plantation officials, government advisors, and labour union representatives dispatched in early 1950 to assess the condition of plantation enterprises in Atjeh and other parts of Sumatra following the Dutch-Indonesian hostilities. The term was used in the English-influenced commercial vocabulary of the East Coast plantation world.
Process
The survey-party system was a mechanism for evaluating the physical condition, staffing needs, and economic viability of plantation enterprises that had been abandoned, damaged, or expropriated during the Japanese occupation and the Indonesian revolution. The parties typically included representatives of the plantation companies, government agricultural advisors, and — in the case of the Atjeh surveys — commissioners of the Sarbupri labour union, reflecting the central role of labour relations in the reopening process.
Atjeh survey parties (February 1950)
The Atjeh survey parties of February 1950 were resolved upon during discussions at Kotaradja on 9-10 December 1949. The parties assessed approximately fifty enterprises in Atjeh, leading to the return of some forty enterprises to management by August 1950.
Source
Oostkust van Sumatra-Instituut Mededeling No. 37: Deli-Figuren uit de jaren 1950 t/m 1952, compiled by Ir. F. J. J. Dootjes (Amsterdam, 1953).