Anger over slow response on bird flu<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Already concerned by news reports of bird flu in Greater Jakarta,
\nthe first thing Nana did when dozens of chickens and other birds
\nbegan dying in Kampung Gardu, Buaran village, Tangerang, was
\ncontact the local animal husbandry office.<\/p>\n
"What really terrified me was that children in my neighborhood
\nbegan coming down with fevers at the same time. I am afraid that
\nbird flu has arrived in my neighborhood. The really frustrating
\nthing is that officials from the animal husbandry agency did not
\nrespond to my calls," she told The Jakarta Post recently.<\/p>\n
After calling the agency several times but failing to get a
\nresponse, she gave up and now just hopes for the best.<\/p>\n
"I just wanted them to check if the chickens and birds in the
\nneighborhood were infected with avian influenza, nothing else,"
\nshe told the Post.<\/p>\n
Nana is just one of numerous residents in Greater Jakarta who
\nhave accused health officials of ignoring reports from the public
\nof suspected bird flu cases.<\/p>\n
A senior official at the Jakarta Animal Husbandry, Fisheries,
\nand Maritime Affairs Agency, Adnan Ahmad, said it was impossible
\nto respond immediately to every report because local animal
\nhusbandry agencies had only three to four veterinarians to cover
\nan entire regency.<\/p>\n
"Tangerang, for instance, has only three veterinarians at its
\nanimal husbandry agency. With the bird flu outbreak, they cannot
\ncope with all the reports being filed by residents," he told the
\nPost.<\/p>\n
He did acknowledge, however, that several officials at local
\nanimal husbandry agencies in Greater Jakarta had failed to make
\nbird flu their top priority since the national campaign to
\neradicate the disease was launched by President Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono in September.<\/p>\n
Ahmad said the central government should push local
\nadministrations to prioritize the campaign against bird flu, and
\nhelp to improve coordination among the different administrations.<\/p>\n
In addition to a lack of veterinarians, many agencies also
\ncomplain about conflicting policies issued by the central
\ngovernment and local administrations regarding the disbursement
\nof funds to tackle bird flu.<\/p>\n
The head of the animal husbandry agency in West Jakarta, Riana
\nFaiza, said his office had not received any funds from the
\ncentral government or any additional funds from the Jakarta
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
"We have heard the government has been allocating money to
\nlocal administrations to deal with bird flu for the last several
\nmonths, but we have not received any money. Now we are expected
\nto do more work on the same budget," she said.<\/p>\n
Riana said her office was working to prevent the spread of
\nbird flu through information campaigns, the spraying of
\ndisinfectant and selectively culling chickens and other birds.<\/p>\n
She said her office had culled dozens of infected birds and
\nchickens in several districts, but had been unable to compensate
\nthe owners because of budget constraints.<\/p>\n
Adnan said his office had found infected birds in every
\nmunicipality in Jakarta and had culled hundreds of fowl.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong
\nKong has confirmed 12 cases of bird flu in humans in Indonesia,
\nwhich have resulted in seven deaths.<\/p>",
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