Poor villagers eat rice shavings

Poor villagers eat rice shavings

TANGERANG (JP): At least five families from Kohod village in
Pakuhaji district here cannot afford to buy rice and have been
forced to eat shavings of the grain left over from the milling
process.

The five families, among 116 in the village who are living
below the poverty line, said they had eaten rice shavings to
avoid starvation.

They said they could not afford to buy rice, which has risen
sharply in price as a result of severe drought last year and the
ongoing monetary crisis.

Chief of administrative affairs in the village, Surya, said
the heads of the impoverished families were laborers, farmers and
shrimp collectors.

"Their incomes are so low that they cannot even afford to buy
rice," he said.

The district secretary, Maesyal Rasyid, admitted the five
families had no choice but to eat rice shavings. He added that a
total of 2,328 families were living below the poverty line in the
district.

Maesyal said the local office of the National Family Planning
Board (BKKBN) and the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) had donated
23 tons of rice to help poor people in the district.

He said the rice would be sold once a month in 14 villages in
the district for the next nine months.

"The rice is sold for Rp 1,000 a kilogram. A family is allowed
to buy a maximum of 10 kilograms each month," Maesyal said.

He added that local residents were happy with the scheme and
hoped it would continue for a long time.

He said the district had also organized labor intensive
projects which provided some people with modest incomes. (41/jun)