CATHOLIC charity, Caritas, is spearheading a project which has given harvesting work to some 20 people who failed to find seasonal work in the tourist industry this summer.
The work programme for the unemployed has been set up with landowners in Son Servera and Arta whose orchards of almond and carob trees have not been harvested.
The workers are given a salary for their labour and are currently assigned to nine fincas in Cala Millor and Son Servera and another five in Arta. One of the workers said yesterday: We prefer to work on the carob trees as there's more profit to be had from selling the fruit, they're easier to pick and the trees give us shade. The project coordinators sell the harvest to local agricultural cooperatives and the profits are divided amongst the workers. The trees regain a better condition if they are harvested and the countryside gets a facelift, said Miquel Angel Caldentey, community liaison officer for Caritas. In just one day starting at 7.30am, 1'700 kilos of carob beans were collected he said. If the team keeps up this pace, they'll be earning a goodly sum, he added.