September 23, 2005

Indonesia to ban poultry farms in Jakarta

The Indonesian government will ban farms and slaughterhouses in its capital Jakarta and re-arrange zonings within the poultry industry in a bid to stop the bird flu spread, Agriculture Ministry poultry division's director-general Mathur Riady said on Sep 22.

There would not be any poultry slaughterhouses in greater Jakarta, as "a metropolitan city like Jakarta should not turn into the home of poultry farms," Riady explained.

However, it was unclear if the new rules would apply to backyard slaughtering.

Riady admitted that the move to ban slaughterhouses and farms in Jakarta could result in social and economic problems.

Some poultry farms in greater Jakarta are located near or in the middle of residential areas, while many Jakarta urban-area households also keep livestock, especially chickens, in their backyards.

Riady revealed the number of chickens killed by bird flu so far this year: 800,000, a drop compared to the 5.3 million in 2004.

Indonesian doctors are also now observing 11 patients with bird flu-like symptoms, amid public fears that the bird flu outbreak is spreading.

Earlier this week, the Indonesian government imposed a state of high alert that gives authorities the power to order people with the bird flu symptoms to be hospitalised.