Limited To Red Chili Stock, There Are Inflation Contributors In Kupang, City Governments Are Starting To Take Advantage Of Sleep Lands

Acting Mayor of Kupang George Melkianus Hadjoh (left) (ANTARA/Benny Suwang)

KUPANG - The Kupang City Government, East Nusa Tenggara, has begun to use all the beds belonging to the local government to be used as a location for planting vegetables and chilies in an effort to control the inflation rate. "We continue to strive to overcome the increase in inflation by utilizing all vacant land that has not been used by the government to be used as a location for planting chilies that always occur in the Kupang City market," said Kupang Mayor George Melkianus Hadjoh in Kupang, Antara, Tuesday, September 13. The supply of red chilies that are always limited has an impact on rising prices in the market which has caused increased inflation in Kupang City. "The need for red chilies for the people of Kupang City has been supplied from Kupang Regency and South Central Timor Regency, even though there are so many sleeping lands that are assets belonging to the Kupang City government that can be optimized as chili plantations and vegetables to meet the needs of the people of Kupang City," he said. He said he had ordered the Kupang City Government's assets to record all land assets of the City Government spread across 51 urban villages that were not used as land for the development of vegetable and chili businesses. "All potentials must be utilized so that various community needs remain well met and the inflation rate in Kupang City can be controlled," said George Melkianus Hadjoh. He added that the people of Kupang City also independently take advantage of the land around the house to be planted with various vegetables so that the needs of vegetables for household consumption can be met independently and do not have to buy to the market. "Managing chili plants in Kupang City is not difficult as long as there is a intention to try," said George Melkianus Hadjoh. Inflation in Kupang City, which is currently at 1.05 percent position, is still categorized as reasonable because the tolerance limit is at 2-4 percent and red chilies have a large contribution to rising inflation so opening chili plantations is one of the government's strategies in controlling inflation.