Police urged to grow vegetables

Police urged to grow vegetables

JAKARTA: Cash-strapped police shaking down citizens for some of the green stuff is part of daily life in Indonesia. To reel back graft, a police chief wants his officers to develop green thumbs instead.

Bogor Police Col. Anton Bachrul Alam said over the weekend he was encouraging officers to grow tomatoes, lettuce and flowers at home to supplement their often meager income.

"Their official wages are barely enough to live on. It's better than extorting people or taking bribes," he said.

Anton said a hydrophonics expert would teach officers and their family to grow plants using nutrient solutions rather than soil, making them easier to harvest. A police cooperative will help them sell their crops, he said.

Bogor has about 3,000 policemen who earn on average one million rupiah (US$111) per month.

Security forces are notorious for petty graft, running illegal enterprises and taking bribes from drug smugglers and gambling operators. -- AP