Farming project on neglected land

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said that he and the city's five mayors are ready to act as guarantors for the public intending to allow the use of neglected land for the cultivation of vegetables or other secondary crops.

"The mayors and I will act as guarantors in the utilization of the neglected land," he said at a ceremony for the launching of a farming project on unused land in Sunter Indah housing complex in North Jakarta.

However, he restated that the utilization of neglected land was only temporary. "If the owners want the land back, the people who join the farming project can not claim anything," Sutiyoso was quoted by Antara as saying.

Therefore, he urged the land owners to inform him as soon as possible when they intended to take their land back.

Sutiyoso said that the six-hectare farming project in Sunter was developed on land belonging to private firms PT Indofica Ausin and PT Pembangunan Jaya.

Meanwhile, North Jakarta Mayor Subagio said that neglected land in his mayoralty was estimated at about 1,300 hectares, of which only four percent belonged to the city administration, 14.8 percent to individuals and 81 percent to housing developers. (hhr)