Growing vegetables alongside Jakarta's highways

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 10/14/2008 10:16 AM  |  City

SOW WHILE YOU CAN: A farmer waters his vegetable garden beside the highway ramps near Jl. Pramuka Ujung in Central Jakarta last Tuesday. The government has allowed a number of farmers to cultivate vegetables and fruit on disputed land under the condition they have to leave once the dispute is settled. (JP/Nani Afrida)

Growing vegetables in the metropolis? It sounds impossible in a city like Jakarta so packed with houses, streets and buildings. But on vacant lots around the city some people cultivate vegetables and fruits and sell them to make their living.

Zainuddin, 43, is one such farmer. The father of three has been planting vegetables in Jakarta since 1997. He tills a plot of idle land near Jl. Pramuka Ujung in Central Jakarta besides a major highway.

"The landowners might be in dispute and the land is still under government control," Zainuddin said to The Jakarta Post last Tuesday. The government has allowed us to cultivate the land until the issue gets resolved."

Zainuddin and 24 other families, mostly from Bogor in West Java, rely on this 4,000-square-meter lot. Each family gets 150 square meters of land.

They plant several kinds of vegetables: spinach, lettuce, watercress and shallots. All of them share a similar background: they have no land in their home towns and like to work hard.

According to Zainuddin, cultivating vegetables here is more profitable than in their home town.

"Here we can sell a bunch of kemangi (Ocimum basilicum or lemon basil) for Rp 1,000 (10 US cents). In my village the price would be cheaper," Zainuddin told the Post.

Rahmad, another grower, said farmers had an easier time in Jakarta because they could irrigate using water jet pumps.

"In our village, we have to carry well water pail by pail. Here, you just press a button, the water comes out," he said.

Rahmad, who has been living and farming in Jakarta since 1998, makes out better here because he can plant vegetables without paying money to a landowner.

"I farmed for hire before. I worked for the landowner and had to share my revenue with him."

Some farmers have also built makeshift houses near the land. They stay there with their families who help them tend the vegetables.

"My family stayed in Bogor, but many farmers bring their families here. That way they can concentrate on tilling their land," Zainuddin said.

Before it was converted into a vegetable garden, the land was a dump where many trash collectors stayed.

In 1998 the government designated the idle land as a green area and allowed people like Zainuddin to cultivate vegetables there.

"We planted yams at first, but the yams tasted so bitter we stopped sowing them," said Suhata, the oldest farmer.

They also tried to cultivate corn but, unfortunately, the stalks could not produce any corn.

"Perhaps the soil was contaminated with chemicals or other things from the garbage so it was no good for yams or corn. Anyway, we decided to plant vegetables instead," the 65-year-old said.

Suhata also said farmers could stay on the land under one condition. "If the government ever needs to take the land back, the farmers cannot ask for compensation."

Many people, mostly homemakers, come to this garden to buy fresh vegetables directly from the farmers. Other buyers are food vendors who need vegetables for dishes such as pecel lele, fried catfish served with chili and raw kemangi leaves.

"It's different buying vegetables here than from a supermarket. We can select what we want fresh out of the ground," said Nana, a buyer.

"Kemangi leaves are always available here," said Hamid, a pecel lele vendor.

Suhata, Rahmad and Zainuddin are content to work as farmers on rent-free land in Jakarta, even though they do not make much money.

"We just earn enough to survive. It's better to be a farmer than a beggar," Sahata said. (naf)

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