January 30, 2004
Bird Flu Set To Cost Indonesia US$914 Million
The bird flu outbreak in Indonesia will cost the country financial loss amounting to Rp7.7 trillion (US$914 million). On top of that, 1.25 million of its people are likely to lose their jobs, Agriculture Minsiter Bungaran Saragih said on Thursday.
The epidemic is expected to affect poultry farming in a total of 51 districts in 10 provinces, he said.
"Apart from the financial loss, the outbreak has also created the danger of the virus being transmitted to humans, especially workers in poultry farming," Saragih said at a working meeting with the House of Representatives' commission on agriculture.
But the death of 4.7 million chickens recently was insignificant compared to the growth of the country's poultry population, he said.
Indonesia's poultry population stood at 1.3 billion, consisting of 287.3 million local chickens, 85.1 million egg-laying chickens, 917.7 million slaughter-chickens and 48.1 million ducks.
"The number of dead chickens is only 0.5 percent of their population and that of dead ducks only 0.4 percent of their population," Saragih added.
Therefore, he said, the bird flu outbreak would not affect national poultry production at 1.2 million and egg production at 1.1 million tons annually.
"I am not expecting this (disease) to have a further impact on the poultry industry and its supporting industries such as the feed industry," the minister said.
He predicted the outbreak would be under control after six months and by July the country could expect to be free from bird flu.
Earlier this week, ASEAN members held a two-day meeting in Bangkok, Thailand to discuss the outbreak and efforts to control the virus.
"During the two-day meeting, Southeast Asian countries sought a regional solution to handle the disease," Saragih said.
He said Indonesia would receive technical assistance from several international organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Dutch government and Japan, to fight the disease.
