by MICHAEL VATIKIOTIS and JOHN MCBETH
JAVA – Hugging the north coast of Java virtually parallel to the equator runs one of Indonesia’s oldest roads, a two-lane carriageway that is perhaps an even more vital commercial artery now than when it was originally built.
The so-called “post road” was built by the Dutch in the 19th century to carry mail and other goods between the old colonial capital of Batavia (now Jakarta) and the eastern port city of Surabaya. Tens of thousands of Javanese workers were forced to build the road and countless numbers died from disease and maltreatment at the hands of their brutal colonial overlords.
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