Residents cultivate empty land illegally
Residents cultivate empty land illegally
JAKARTA (JP): About 100 city residents flocked to an empty
plot of land on Jl. Pulo Mas Barat in East Jakarta to grow
vegetables regardless of the absence of legal procedures on land
utilization.
Mukhlis Simanjuntak, one of the people, said they just wanted
to cultivate the 3,000-square-meter plot, which is located near a
luxury housing complex, to enable them get food supplies amid the
monetary crisis.
Mukhlis said the people, who came from Pulo Mas and Pulogadung
districts in East Jakarta and Senen in Central Jakarta, had no
idea who owned the land.
"We don't know about legal procedures. We're hungry," he told
reporters yesterday.
Mukhlis, who lives in Pulogadung, said the people had
submitted a letter, signed by 75 people, yesterday to Pulogadung
district head Mochtar Harahap, asking his permission to utilize
the land for growing vegetables.
"Besides meeting the district head, we have also met
Pulogadung Police chief and Pulogadung military commander and
local neighborhood chief Harun A. Rasyid," he said.
He said that representatives of the people intending to
utilize the land would meet with local authorities for a second
time to discuss their demands because residents living near the
land opposed the cultivation plan.
"If they reject our request, it's OK for me. But I don't know
what my friends will do," said Mukhlis.
Mochtar, who visited the area yesterday, said he would discuss
the demand with East Jakarta Mayor Soedarsono because the idle
land was owned by the state. "It's all his decision," he said.
Mukhlis said the people, who started arriving at the site on
Monday, divided the land into several plots of about 25 square
meters each.
"Most of the people intending to grow vegetables work as
mikrolet (minivan) drivers or have no job at all. It's better for
us to be involved in such a project rather than killing our time
by playing cards or stealing amid the crisis," said Mukhlis, who
is a mikrolet driver on the Senen-Rawamangun route.
He said the idea of utilizing the idle land came after they
heard the government announcement suggesting that everyone
utilize idle land in order to get a food supply amid the crisis.
"If the government would like to use the land, according to
its original plan, we are ready to leave this site," he said.
(ivy)