Photo: Carl Josef Kleingrothe/National Gallery of Australia
The photo above is a railroad bridge that connects Belawan with Medan. This railway line began to be built in 1883 and was completed in 1888. This bridge was the one that connects the railway line that crosses the Belawan River.
The first railway line in Sumatra was built to serve the transportation of North Sumatran export commodities consisting of mining and plantation products. Many private Dutch companies invested in the Dutch East Indies after the opening of the Suez Canal and the discovery of steamships and telegraphs, including in the mining and plantation sectors in North Sumatra.
From the photo above, we can see two important infrastructures built by the Netherlands, namely electricity and transportation. Without adequate infrastructure, the economy will not develop and export commodities will become uncompetitive due to high costs.