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)