A near-theft of compost painstakingly produced by a side-business work team under the logistics bureau of North Korea’s Ninth Corps headquarters has prompted workers to organize nightly guard rotations at the storage site, Daily NK has learned.
According to a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong province yesterday, someone arrived at the compost storage site near the Ninth Corps headquarters late on the night of Feb. 21, during the party conference, pulling a cart in an apparent attempt to load and carry away compost undetected. The individual or individuals were caught in the act.
Nearly a ton of compost on the line
A single cart can carry more than one ton of compost, so the potential loss could have been significant. Fortunately, those attempting the theft fled the scene as soon as they were spotted, leaving the compost untouched.
In the wake of the incident, workers from the logistics bureau’s side-business team have been taking turns standing guard at the compost storage site from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The headquarters logistics bureau runs side-business farming operations using its own workers to secure food supplies for the unit. To meet the fertilizer needs of that farming, the bureau assigns a dedicated team of around five to seven people to compost production.
The compost that nearly went missing was produced intensively by the side-business team from June through November of last year, with the total quantity amounting to several dozen tons.
“The side-business workers dedicated to compost production spent even the hottest days of last summer going from outhouse to outhouse with buckets strapped to their backs to collect human waste, and scraping ash from waste pits to make the compost,” the source said. “The compost they produce is of such high quality that even when mixed with other ash it passes inspection with ease.”
The problem, the source explained, is that word has spread that the Ninth Corps headquarters logistics bureau side-business team has been stockpiling high-quality compost, and that has made it a prime target for theft among the broader population, particularly given the annual “compost battle” that kicks off each year at this time.
Every agency, enterprise, school and neighborhood watch unit is assigned an annual compost production quota and assessed on whether it has met that quota, either as an organization or on an individual basis. That pressure, the source said, has driven people to pursue not only legitimate production but outright theft. The compost produced by this particular logistics bureau team is especially coveted because its high quality means it passes inspection even when diluted with other materials.
Workers bear the cost of theft and the burden of prevention
“Small amounts of compost going missing had happened before, but an attempt to haul it away in a large cart like this was almost unheard of,” the source said. “If the compost were stolen, the side-business workers would be held personally responsible for all of it, so they took it upon themselves to organize guard shifts and stay up through the night to protect it.”
The source added: “Producing the compost is grueling enough, but having to stay up all night to make sure no one steals it is its own kind of torment. People are saying it is heartbreaking to see the side-business workers bearing the burden of both production and theft prevention all on their own.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: dailynk.com
