Tree trunk profits cut with sales downturn: Sellers

JAKARTA (JP): Sales of the tree trunks usually used for traditional pole climbing competitions during the commemoration of Indonesian Independence Day were down this year, sellers said on Tuesday.

Even in the Bukit Duri area of South Jakarta, which has sold the areca nut trees since the 1980s, sales were half of last year's.

"Last year I could sell 35 trees, but this year, I sold only 14 trees from the 20 I have been preparing since early August," one of the sellers, M. Zen, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Another seller in the area, Beni, said he sold only 10 trees from the nearly 20 he had aimed to sell this year.

The commemoration of Independence Day on Aug. 17 is usually enlivened with pole-climbing competitions. The poles, made from planed and sanded areca tree trunks, are between nine meters and 12 meters high.

Participants of the competition must climb the pole, which is greased to make it slippery, to reach various prizes placed at the top.

A number of pole sellers interviewed by the Post said the biggest sales of areca nut trunks was four years ago, when the country celebrated its golden jubilee. In Bukit Duri alone, about 500 trees were sold.

Most of the trees are bought from villages around Bogor and Sukabumi in West Java. The trees must first be cleaned up and planed before they are ready for sale. Selling these poles is a sideline job for some people who wish to make extra income during the celebration.

Each pole is bought for about Rp 40,000 (US$5.8) from the villages. In Jakarta, they are sold for between Rp 150,000 and Rp 275,000, including delivery. Unsold poles are often simply thrown away.

Potential buyers of the poles are companies or government offices that hold competitions during the Independence Day celebration.

Recently, as well as Bukit Duri, other areas like Pal Batu in South Jakarta and Jl. Surabaya in Central Jakarta also sell plenty of areca nut tree trunks.

The only seller in Jl. Surabaya claimed the poles sold better there than in the other two areas. He said he had sold 15 trunks from his stock of 20. (04)