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Jakarta Post

‘Orange troops’ spread joy with urban farm

Tender plants: A worker of the Public Facility Maintenance Agency takes care of an urban farm on a plot of land in South Jakarta’s Lebak Bulus subdistrict on Wednesday

Vela Andapita (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, July 12, 2019

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‘Orange troops’ spread joy with urban farm

T

ender plants: A worker of the Public Facility Maintenance Agency takes care of an urban farm on a plot of land in South Jakarta’s Lebak Bulus subdistrict on Wednesday.(JP/Vela Andapita)

Known for their work in keeping the city clean, the personnel of the Public Facility Maintenance Agency (PPSU) — aka the “orange troops” — in Lebak Bulus subdistrict in Cilandak, South Jakarta, are also devoting their time to working on a small urban farm.

It was almost 12 p.m. on Wednesday when Hamdja and Murjani arrived at the farm. They had just finished their regular task of sweeping the roads within the subdistrict.

On a 500-square-meter plot of land on Jl. Karang Asri IV, Hamdja, Murjani and their fellow orange troops planted various vegetables such as bok choy, water pumpkins, long beans, spinach, water spinach and mustard greens.

“The land used to be a disposal site. Three years ago, there was only mountain of trash here,” 70-year-old Hamdja told The Jakarta Post, explaining that the farm was established in 2016.

“One day, the subdistrict officers asked us PPSU personnel to clean up the area. We wondered, ‘How can we stop people from throwing their trash here?’ The answer was by planting vegetables and turning it into a farm.”

Working on the farm is now part of the group’s daily tasks. The workers divide their duties depending on the shift: those who work on the streets during the morning shift, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., are required to tend to the farm at 1 p.m.

During their regular two-hour visits to the farm, the orange troops must tend to the crops by preparing the soil, planting the seeds, watering the plants and providing the fertilizer.

“For me myself, farming is a hobby as well as an escape from my regular duty. I also manage a small farm in front of my house, from which I sell the yields and get extra money for my family,” Hamdja said.

Murjani explained that although it was the Lebak Bulus subdistrict office that initiated the farm, the workers used their own money to buy the seeds, the fertilizer and other farming equipment. However, they do not take advantage of the farm by selling the crops during harvest time.

Murjani said that, in April, the group planted timun suri (lemon cucumber) for the following month’s Ramadan, as it was a popular desert for breaking the fast. They harvested so much timun suri that he could not recall how many kilograms were produced.

“We shared the fruits among ourselves, with the neighbors, district and subdistrict officers, and even to passersby. We didn’t sell it. We’re happier sharing it because it made people happy,” the 43-year-old said.

In a release made available to the Post, Lebak Bulus subdistrict head Arifudin said the land used for urban farming belonged to private firm PT Java Teakfurn.

“The PPSU officers opened the farm after getting permission from the land owner. We appreciate them for doing this,” he said.

Similar to the one in Lebak Bulus, local orange troops also manage an urban farm located along the banks of the East Flood Canal in East Jakarta.

Some parts of the canal banks are now used as farmland, growing water spinach, chili, mustard greens, eggplant, spinach and sunflower, kompas.com reported.

A member of the Duren Sawit orange troops, Sumartono, said the area used to be slums where illegal squatters lived right next to a trash disposal site.

In 2016, a group of PPSU officers and local residents started cleaning up the area and introduced plants to farm. Today, they can enjoy extra income from their hard work by selling the crops to the public. The group earns
Rp 450,000 (US$32) every time they harvest water spinach, boosting the spirits of its members, who work even harder on the farm as a result.

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