Sepenggal Kisah Petani Asal Sigi dan Harapannya Untuk Bangkit
Sepenggal Kisah Petani Asal Sigi dan Harapannya Untuk Bangkit
Sepenggal Kisah Petani Asal Sigi dan Harapannya Untuk Bangkit
The house by the side of the road is no longer habitable. The ground had cracked that made the house tilt, the pillar collapsed and the walls broke down. The house of Suharyanto, his wife and children in Jono Oge village in Sigi regency, Central Sulawesi, is one of the many homes impacted by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake on Friday (28/9).
When it happened, Suharyanto was igniting his motorcycle to go to the mosque for the evening prayers. He then saw his neighbour lying down in front of his house. He tried to carry him to the house, but then the ground was splitting.
Suharyanto screamed out loud calling his wife and children to flee to an open field. Along the way, he saw the ground splitting and rising. “Over there the road rose two meters high, crackling explosively,” he said, pointing to the road he was describing.
He finally found a safe location in a house that was under construction not far from his house. Other people from Jono Oge also took refuge there. “We decided to spend the night there. In the morning, we went up the Lolu village,” he said.
When the UGM team led by Vice-Rector for Research and Community Service, drg. Ika Dewi Ana, M.Kes., Ph.D., and Kagama Care visited him on Sunday (21/10) in Lolu village, he was seen busy dealing with logistics distribution for the displaced people. He serves as an advisor in the shelter.
Coming as a transmigrant from Banyuwangi in East Java to Palu in 1986, he was given a plot of land to cultivate. Finally, he was able to build a house which he occupied since 1998.
Now being a successful farmer, some of his farm products have been known nationally, including the Sanren F1 onion seed. This attracted PT East West Seed Indonesia (Ewindo) company in early 2000s. He recounted each time PT Ewindo wanted to assign their staff in the region, they would be trained in his farms for two months on how to do farming appropriately.
“There are several types of agricultural products in my land such as tomato, cucumber, pumpkin, and watermelon,” he said.
Suharyanto said he was thankful enough that the land was free from the disaster. “This is the thing that awakened me to rebuild my life,” he said.
Along with the support from many people, after the disaster, he planned to rejuvenate his farms and rebuild his home. “I will stay here and won’t give up to rebuild my life,” he said optimistically.