Indonesia brick-making | The Brunei Times

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Indonesia brick-making alive and well















Oven-baked clay: (Top to Bottom) The mud is compressed into shape after it has been mixed with water in special pits. The bricks are left to dry for a month before firing in a brick-lined kiln for 40 hours. It takes three days for them to cool down. South of Ambon Island are small villages such as Latuhalat where the main income is from making bricks. Pictures: Liz Price

Liz Price
AMBON, INDONESIA

Saturday, February 9, 2008

THERE are still local cottage industries in many parts of Indonesia. One such activity is brick making in Ambon. Ambon is the capital of Maluku province. Together with the separate North Maluku province, these two areas are better known to Europeans as The Moluccas. Since as early as the first century the islands of the Moluccas were known to spice traders and later became known as The Spice Islands, due to the cloves, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon which grow there. It was these East Indies that Columbus was looking for when he accidentally found America in 1492.

South of Ambon Island are small villages such as Latuhalat where the main income is from making bricks. It seems to be a family run business, with one household setting up the necessary equipment. The operation needs a kiln and thatched-roof open-air structures where the bricks are made and dried. Small scale brick factories like these are fairly common in the area since the soil contains suitable clay.

The raw material of clay is obtained locally or may be bought. One or two pits are dug in the ground and the clay is put in the pit and water added. This slurry is mixed with the feet, which is good fun for the children as they can get messy whilst doing a useful job. The resulting paste is then removed and left in piles to dry before use.

To make the actual bricks, the worker — usually the woman — lines a wooden frame with ash from the kiln, then takes a large lump of clay and throws it hard into the mould. She compresses it and scrapes off the excess to level it. The wet brick is eased out of the mould and carefully added to the pile of formed bricks.

I watched in fascination as the woman was able to work so quickly, and was so experienced she made the whole process look easy. But it isn't! My friend decided to have a go and made a real mess of things. Firstly a lot of clay didn't fall into the mould and then when he lifted the mould the brick was distorted as he hadn't compressed it sufficiently. Fortunately the clay could be reused to try again, the same as a learner pastry chef would do in the kitchen.

There are two thicknesses of bricks, they are all made as the larger size but may be cut in half using a wire like a cheese cutter. It seems that nowadays the thicker bricks are preferred, although in this particular house, mostly thin ones were piled up to dry.

The process is difficult, gritty and repetitive work. The lady said she could make 500-600 bricks a day which is quite a staggering number. The raw bricks are left to dry for a month before firing. This is where the man takes over. Firing is done in a brick-lined kiln which has two openings. In the kiln we saw, 13,000 bricks can be fired at one time and are heated for 40 hours. It then takes three days for them to cool down. Coconut husks and wood are used for the fire. In this particular kiln they were using mango wood, and the heat from the fire was intense. It must be an awful job loading the kiln, having to lift the bricks into the extreme heat.

The grey coloured bricks turn red after firing and are piled up until sold. Firing takes place once every two months. The bricks then await transport to their destination.

If the lady makes 500-600 bricks a day, it takes almost a month to make a full load of 13,000 for firing. It was interesting to see that the woman in the house I visited worked alone, the men and children just stood around watching. We were told the thin bricks sell for Rp 400 ($0.06) each. Making 13,000 every two months gives an income of Rp 5.2 million. However, out of this money, they may have to pay for the clay and wood, also the delivery of these items and maybe the transport of the finished items. The lady we spoke to said she personally makes a mere Rp 1 million a month for such constant and repetitive work.

The Brunei Times

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