This whole area was jungle when my grandfather Willem Marius van der Veer came there. It was like the Wild West in the US before the whites crossed the rockies. There was only jungle... no roads, nothing. My grandfather was sent there by his company to establish a rubber estate. So he needed to build roads, bridges, buildings, a school and a hospital for use of the people employed on the estate. Because there was only jungle they had to start by burning the trees, that's why you see these tree stumps. All these tree stumps had to be removed as well!!!

Of course there were many people involved but he was the one in charge and the one responsible. Obviously he wasn't married then. They probably lived in small huts when they were doing this. Remember: no running water, no electricity and no vehicle transportation. You moved on horseback!
Langsa Maps.