Reuters AlertNet Lite - Indonesian capital's bird cull gets mixed reaction

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

Indonesian capital's bird cull gets mixed reaction

19 Jan 2007 05:44:28 GMT
Source: Reuters

Previous | Next

An official throws a chicken to a fire at a heavily-populated neighbourhood in East Jakarta January 19, 2007. About 1,600 birds were destroyed on Friday as the Indonesian capital kicked off a campaign to rid the city of backyard poultry in an attempt to stem a flare-up of bird flu.
REUTERS/SUPRI

Background

• Bird flu

MORE >>

By Heru Asprihanto

JAKARTA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - A campaign to rid the Indonesian capital of backyard fowl to fight bird flu got a mixed reaction from residents on Friday, with some welcoming it while others worried about losing a key source of income.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso set fire to about about 1,600 chickens, ducks and pigeons that had been slaughtered and dumped into a pit overnight in a densely populated neighbourhood.

Some residents responded with cheers of "Hurray!" at the launch of the campaign, although the culled birds were not known to have been infected by bird flu.

Sutiyoso told city residents on Wednesday their backyard fowl would be confiscated and destroyed if they failed to get rid of the birds by the end of the month.

The move follows the deaths of four people in Jakarta and its surrounding areas since the start of the year, taking the number of confirmed human deaths from the virus in Indonesia to 61, the highest in the world.

"We support the government's programme. It's better to do this than worrying about being infected," resident Andai Sihombing said.

But some residents were worried about the cost. Many people in Indonesia keep poultry to supplement their meagre incomes.

"The programme is good but how can we eat eggs but not chicken?" she asked.

Ade Darmadi, a trader at a nearby bird market, said he had not sold a single bird since the governor announced the ban.

He said even though traders like him could still sell birds, traders and owners would need to get a clean bill of health for birds from authorities. This could discourage buyers.

"I hope officials can be present here to facilitate the certification," he said.

Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari on Thursday said the ban in Jakarta would be extended to eight other provinces that had reported human infections of the H5N1 bird flu virus.

More than a dozen people have been admitted to hospital with bird flu-like symptoms since the start of the year, although many have been discharged or tested negative for the virus.

Indonesia faces an uphill task controlling the disease. Millions of backyard fowl live in close proximity to humans and health education campaigns have often been patchy and rules difficult to enforce.

Illustrating this, chickens roam freely just a few minutes walk from the capital's central business district.

Official calls for culling have also met stiff resistance in the past due to meagre compensation and difficulties enforcing rules in the provinces.

Officials said poultry owners would be paid compensation of 12,500 rupiah ($1.4) for each sick bird killed. A fully grown chicken costs about 35,000 rupiah in Jakarta.

The governor said on Wednesday there would be no payment for healthy birds. ($1 = 9,096 rupiah)

AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article Send comments

Emergencies

• Bird flu

MORE >>

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.

Reset map

• Indonesia profile
· View map

MORE >>

NGO latest

• The UMCOR Hotline
UMCOR - USA

• Tsunami Survivors in Aceh Face New Challenge
American Red Cross - USA

• GlobalMedic aids Indonesia
DMGF

• Indonesia: North, east, and central Aceh and Sumatra (Langkat) floods
CWS

• CWS Situation Report: Indonesia Earthquake
CWS

MORE >>

Latest news

• Indonesian capital's bird cull gets mixed reaction

• Malaysia red-faced over mistaken tsunami warning

• Bird flu found in ducks in Vietnam city of Can Tho

• PRESS DIGEST-Indonesian General News - Jan 18

• INTERVIEW-India could show the way on climate - UK minister

MORE >>

Last updated:Fri Jan 19 05:46:22 2007