 Between 1873 and 1883, contract workers who were recruited from Java to work the plantations, were transported by the Nederlandse Handelsmaatschappij, and arrived in Batavia.In 1790, an area of uncultivated land known near the Coppename River known as Voorzorg, was designated to treat leprosy.In due time plantations started to sprawl around the leprosy colony, and in 1824, the colony moved its current location in Batavia.