Anwar Leads Vegetable Harvest on KBT Bank

East Jakarta Mayor, Muhammad Anwar, led the vegetable harvest on urban farming land along the banks of the Pondok Kelapa East Flood Canal (KBT) which stretches across seven urban villages, Duren Sawit Sub-district, Wednesday (8/7). As a result, around 511 kilograms of vegetables were harvested.

Hopefully, the melons can be harvested in early October

It was participated by several officials under the East Jakarta administration, namely Economy Development Assistant, Fauzi; Duren Sawit Sub-district Head, Kelik Susanto and his partner, Sundari; Sub-district Secretary, Ali Mansyur Siregar; Pondok Kelapa Urban Village Head, Rasikin; and East Jakarta TP PKK, Diah Anwar.

Symbolically, he and other officials picked a number of types of vegetables, such as eggplant, pak choy, kale, and others. The harvest was then collected to be weighed and sold.

10 Kilogram Pok Choy Harvested at RPTRA Sahardjo

In the KBT area, there is a large land that can be used as an urban farming area. Because of this, he requested that the management of urban farming land not only be conducted by Pokja 3 PKK, but also be handled by other working groups assisted by RT/RW administrators, LMK, and other elements of society.

"It requires integration of all Pokja PKK. Hopefully, RT/RW and LMK will support how the KBT area is made into urban farming. So, this area could become an icon of East Jakarta," he expressed.

This area must be well cared for, to empower the community's economy and realize food security programs.

"It can also be a vehicle for tourism education and refreshing and motivating the community," he furthered.

Duren Sawit Sub-district Head, Kelik Sutanto added today's harvest was held simultaneously in Duren Sawit, Pondok Kopi, Pondok Kelapa, Pondok Bambu, Malaka Jaya, Malaka Sari, and Klender urban villages.

"Hopefully, it is useful for all of us. This urban farming is for food security in Duren Sawit Sub-district, through a program to plant chilies, onions, and other types of vegetables," he explained.

He explained it is the second harvest carried out. The first harvest was held last May on the 210-meters-long land with five square meters wide with a yield of 157 kilograms of vegetables.

"When the second harvest increased, the land used for urban farming expanded to 4,250 square meters with harvests reaching 511 kilograms," he added.

In the future, his party would use this KBT land for planting more plants. For instance, last July, 600 Golden Alisa Melon seeds were planted.

"Hopefully, the melons can be harvested in early October ," he hoped.