Pela village, Kota Bangun Sub-district, Kutai Kartanegara District, continues to develop creative industries, in a bid to empower rural communities.
As the development of food and craft industries has been slow, Pela village began to look at the creation of derivative processing industries from water hyacinth.
Pela Village Chief Supyan Noor was contacted in Samarinda on Thursday, saying his intention to develop the water hyacinth processing industry was mainly to improve the welfare of the area’s residents.
He noted that development of the water hyacinth industry was realistic because of the available raw materials, noting that the Pela village area has many lakes.
Officials hope the creation of a hyacinth industry will empower village communities, youth groups and farmers’ groups, motivating them to become involved in the creative industries.
"For the time being, young people make handicrafts that are sold to local people, as well as tourists. They also paint ready-made floating caps that are bought from the next village," he said.
In addition, said Sofyan, local farmers were involved in the packaging and sale of various fish products, such as salted fish and fish crackers, as souvenirs from Pela village.
Translator: Arumanto/Eliswan Azly
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
