checked by bates<\/p>\n
Asip A. Hasani
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nYogyakarta<\/p>\n
Khoirun, a 37-year-old craftsman from the Nggamblong village
\nin Sleman regency, can not stop giggling when he is asked about
\neceng gondok (a water hyacinth species), a plant on which he now
\nrelies on to survive.<\/p>\n
\"In the old days, I and many other local villagers here almost
\nhad a hatred of this plant. Every wet season, we regularly used
\nto work together to clean our fishponds and rice-fields from that
\nonce 'useless' plant,\" recalled Khoirun.<\/p>\n
For many generations, residents of Nggamblong, some 15
\nkilometers to the west of Yogyakarta, earned money from weaving
\nnatural items, such as from coconut tree materials, for various
\nhandmade handicrafts, such as mats and curtains.<\/p>\n
Eceng gondok, which grew quickly to clog ponds or rivers, was
\nsimply an enemy to the local villagers, most of whom worked on
\nfarms.<\/p>\n
The image of the water plant was changed four years ago, when
\na handicraft trader from Jakarta visited the Nggamblong village
\nseeking woven handicrafts made of dried eceng gondok. All of a
\nsudden, the hatred toward the despised plant drastically changed.<\/p>\n
In a matter of a few months, more orders of the new items came
\nto the village, encouraging dozens of the Nggamblong families,
\nincluding Khoirun and his neighbors, as well as inhabitants
\nliving at nearby regencies, such as Bantul and Kulonprogo, to
\nshift professions.<\/p>\n
The limited stock led the people to order eceng gondok from
\nAmbarawa, where the plant grows wildly in many swampy areas. The
\nbusinesses grew rapidly.<\/p>\n
Khoirun alone now employs more than 10 craftsmen in his
\n'workshop' at his modest house with a production capacity of at
\nleast 550 various types of handicrafts made from eceng gondok.
\nThey range from handbags, boxes, fruit baskets, waste bins,
\ncarpets, pillows, to different home and office accessories.<\/p>\n
For the work, he pays his employees between Rp 10,000
\n(US$1.10) and Rp 20,000 per day each. But his employers often
\nreceive overtime fees to meet the growing orders, mostly from
\nbusinessmen in Yogyakarta, Surakarta and Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Frankly speaking, I don't like working overtime, neither do
\nmy craftsmen, because the quality is worse if we are forced to
\nmeet a deadline which is actually beyond our production
\ncapacity,\" Khoirun said.<\/p>\n
He designs some of his Made-in-Nggamblong products.
\nOccasionally, he asks for the help of the other handicraft
\ntrading companies.<\/p>\n
As part of the deal, the finishing touch of his products is
\ncarried out by his business partners, who make the orders.<\/p>\n
According to him, the price of the items to the trading
\ncompanies ranged from Rp 15,000 to Rp 90,000 each.<\/p>\n
At many local retail shops in Yogyakarta, for example,
\nKhoirun's works are sold for between Rp 35,000 and Rp 150,000
\neach.<\/p>\n
The image of eceng gondok handicrafts and furniture is also on
\nthe rise on the overseas markets thanks to the massive back-to-
\nnature campaign worldwide.<\/p>\n
Consequently, the dried water plant -- once useless -- is
\nsold at Rp 3,500 per kilogram. Khoirun alone needs at least 100
\nkilograms per month.<\/p>\n
\"We now think of growing this parasite water plant in our rice
\nfields and fishponds in order to meet the growing demand of eceng
\ngondok-made handicrafts. It sounds rather ridiculous, right?\"
\nKhoirun said.<\/p>\n
Yogyakarta-based PT. Bhumi Prama Cipta director Emmy Pratiwi,
\nwhose company manufactures handicrafts made of natural raw
\nmaterials, particularly producing fashion bags, said among the
\nmajor importers of the eceng-gondok-made handicrafts were the
\nU.S., Japan and several countries in Europe.<\/p>\n
\"This summer we just shipped some 4,000 bags made of the plant
\nto the U.S.,\" she said, adding that her company was currently
\npreparing another shipment of the same items, which has the price
\nof between $6 and $18 per piece, to Italy,\" Emmy said.<\/p>\n
Unlike rattan or wood or other natural materials, eceng gondok
\nwas slightly thicker and much easier to shape in forming and
\ndesigning an item.<\/p>\n
\"The handicrafts also gives a more natural impression,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, she said, the time of shipment orders from her
\noverseas partners usually do not match the dry season in
\nIndonesia, in which the sun is badly needed to quickly help dry
\nthe water plant.<\/p>\n
That is why Emmy often rejects a certain number of orders
\nwhich arrived during the wet season unless the stock is still
\navailable.<\/p>\n
Judging from the growing local demands of eceng gondok-made
\nstuffs, she said that the industry urgently needed extra raw
\nmaterials. Emmy herself already planned to establish several
\nfactories in Kalimantan and other islands in which the water
\nplant is still described as a wild and worthless species and a
\nparasite by locals.<\/p>\n
But she is still stuck with another serious problem: finding
\ntalented craftsmen.<\/p>",
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