City residents harvest crops

City residents harvest crops

JAKARTA (JP): Twenty-one Cempaka Putih residents, five of whom
were fired recently by their employers, enjoyed their first
harvest of vegetable crops Thursday.

After three weeks of planting on a 2.5-hectare plot in Central
Jakarta which had previously been idle, each of the farmers
earned about Rp 160,000 from 2,000 bundles of vegetables that
cost Rp 80 each, Antara reported yesterday.

They said the cash would be of valuable assistance in helping
them purchase essential goods during the prolonged economic
crisis, in which many factories have closed their operations and
construction sites halted activities.

A small thanksgiving ceremony for the harvest was held at the
site as Central Jakarta Mayor Andi S. Abdullah led the collecting
of the vegetables including spinach, water spinach and cabbage.

According to Yusuf, 60, head of the farmers' group, they
planted the vegetables on the plot after the local authorities
helped cleared it of growth last month.

"All these vegetables have been ordered by traders of Pulo
Gadung and Senen markets," Yusuf said.

Head of the district, Ibrahim Ishaka, said that the local
authorities also equipped the farmers with water pumps and
supplied them with seeds.

Of the 51.71 hectares of unused plots in Central Jakarta, only
nine hectares have been used temporarily for planting vegetables
for the local people. (bsr)