Blangtekoer — also Blang Tekoer — is one of the two Semnenboschcomplexen (Sumatran-pine forest complexes) — together with Paja Djorok — in which the trial exploitation of Pinus Merkusii turpentine began on 14 September 1924 under the Besluit of 27 June 1924. The forest complex is named in the Atjeh-terpentijn pamphlet of 1930 as the western of the two complexes separated by the river Baleq, and as one of the two sites of the early trial exploitation of the Baleq enterprise.
The forest complex
The Atjeh-terpentijn pamphlet records that Blangtekoer and Paja Djorok were betrekkelijk dicht gelegen bij den grooten weg van Takengon naar Bireuen (Atjeh) — located relatively close to the main road from Takengon to Bireuen (Atjeh). The two forest complexes were separated by the river Baleq, from which the Baleq enterprise took its name. The forest complex was the western of the two — gescheiden door een rivier, de Baleq, waaraan de naam “Baleq” voor het proefbedrijf ontleend is.
The trial of 14 September 1924
The Atjeh-terpentijn pamphlet records that the trial exploitation of Pinus Merkusii turpentine began on 14 September 1924 in the two Semnenboschcomplexen — Paja Djorok and Blangtekoer. The trial was undertaken by ‘s Lands Caoutchouchedrijf on behalf of the Dienst van het Boschwezen, and it was funded by the Regeering under the Besluit of 27 June 1924. The results of the trial were sufficient that, in 1926, the Regeering resolved to convert the trial into a definitive exploitation as a separate division of ‘s Lands Caoutchouchedrijf with effect from 1 January 1927.
The forest in 1928
The Atjeh-terpentijn pamphlet records that one of the photographs reproduced in the pamphlet — Fig. I — was Coll. K. I., opn. O. Brandts Buys — a photograph from the Koloniaal Instituut collection, taken by O. Brandts Buys — and was captioned Bosch van Pinus Merkusii in Atjeh — Forest of Pinus Merkusii in Atjeh. The photograph illustrates the Semnenboschcomplexen of which Paja Djorok and Blangtekoer were the two principal sites, and it documents the silvicultural condition of the Pinus Merkusii stands in the late 1920s.
Significance
Blangtekoer’s significance in the historiography of colonial Aceh is as one of the two original sites of the trial exploitation of Pinus Merkusii turpentine in the Netherlands Indies — the forest complex where the early trial samples of Atjeh-turpentine were first produced, and where the quarre tapping method was first applied in Atjehnese conditions. The forest complex’s location near the Takengon-Bireuen road was the principal logistical advantage that made the trial possible, and its separation from Paja Djorok by the river Baleq gave the enterprise its name.
See Also
- Paja Djorok
- Baleq
- Pinus Merkusii
- Quarre
- Takengon
- Bireuen
- Gajo-landen
- ‘s Lands Caoutchouchedrijf
- Dienst van het Boschwezen
- Besluit van 27 June 1924 on Atjeh-turpentine exploitation
- Atjeh-terpentijn (Spoor, 1930)
- C. Brandts Buys
- 1924
Source
Atjeh-terpentijn: tegenwoordige kwaliteit en nieuwe beoordeelingen, by Ir. W. Spoon, Berichten van de Afdeeling Handelsmuseum van de Koninklijke Vereeniging Koloniaal Instituut No. 57, Amsterdam: J. H. de Bussy, 1930, pp. 5, 8 (Winning van de terpentijn; Fig. I).