Frightened minister alone in facing bird flu threats<\/p>\n
JP\/8\/flu<\/p>\n
Cooperation between local and central administration key to fight
\nbird flu<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Wearing a special white outfit complete with gloves and mask,
\nMinister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono was shouting
\nstressfully to staff from the Tangerang animal husbandry office
\nasking them if it was safe to open his mask to give an interview
\nto the media.<\/p>\n
Many reporters, waiting in front of the minister with no
\nprotective gloves or masks during a cull ceremony on a pig farm
\nin Legok, Tangerang, Banten province last Sunday, were astonished
\nto see how frightened he was.<\/p>\n
For several minutes, no one seemed to listen to the minister's
\nquery as the ministry and regency staffers, reporters and
\nhundreds of local people wore no protective gear -- the
\nexceptions were Anton, the Coordinating Minister for People's
\nWelfare Alwi Shihab and two or three ministerial aides.<\/p>\n
"Don't blame me if you get bird flu because you don't wear a
\nmask. This is very dangerous, you know, as the virus can be
\ntransmitted through the air," he warned reporters through his
\nmask.<\/p>\n
Dozens of local and international journalists covered the
\nceremony as a total of 31 pigs and 40 ducks, which were said to
\nbe infected by bird flu, were slaughtered to show the public that
\nefforts were being carried out to stop the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n
Strangely, despite the minister's warning, his staff as well
\nas those from Tangerang's animal husbandry office, provided just
\na few masks to the high-ranking officials on hand and some
\nreporters, while leaving hundreds of local people, including many
\nchildren, as well as most reporters unmasked during the ceremony.<\/p>\n
They did not even have coordination and cooperation on how to
\nsafeguard the local people from such a very dangerous virus.<\/p>\n
The Tangerang Regent Ismet Iskandar did not attend the high-
\nprofile event.<\/p>\n
Poor Anton! It seemed that he was the only one sufficiently
\nworried about the virus transmission in the area. The ministry's
\nstaff and Tangerang regency administration staff looked relax,
\neven though hundreds of local people without masks stood closely
\nwatching the infected animals being slaughtered.<\/p>\n
Looking at the half-hearted security efforts, many people
\nattending the ceremony, questioned whether the animals were
\nreally infected bird flu, or whether it was just a public
\nrelations stunt to calm the public down.<\/p>\n
The death of three Tangerang residents after being infected by
\nbird flu -- Iwan Siswara Rafei, an official at the Supreme Audit
\nAgency (BPK) and his two daughters -- was clearly the main reason
\nbehind the limited cull, although it remains unclear whether Iwan
\nand his children contracted the virus in Tangerang.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the cull, the government declared Tangerang as a
\n"red zone" for bird flu.<\/p>\n
The regent later denied that there were any bird flu cases in
\nTangerang and asked the central government to revoke the red zone
\nstatus. He insisted that the central government had no reason at
\nall to declare his regency prone to the virus because the local
\nanimal husbandry office had not found any evidence of avian
\ninfluenza there.<\/p>\n
He also complained that the red zone status was having a
\nnegative impact on poultry breeders and market vendors, with
\ntheir sales slashed by around 50 percent virtually over night.<\/p>\n
If other local administrations like Tangerang challenge the
\ncentral government, efforts to fight bird flu in the country will
\nface huge difficulties while the spread of the virus continues.<\/p>\n
What would happen if other local administrations in Java,
\nSumatra, Sulawesi, etc., which have reportedly had sporadic
\noutbreaks of the virus, simply refused to cooperate?<\/p>\n
Since we now have regional autonomy, local regents, mayors and
\ngovernors do not necessarily have to listen to the central
\ngovernment's orders.<\/p>\n
The government should discuss everything with local
\nadministrations before announcing a policy so the "Tangerang
\nincident" (where local administrations ignore the central
\ngovernment) does not recur. The World Health Organization has
\nwarned that the bird flu virus could mutate and become a full-
\nfledged human virus, creating a deadly, easily transferable,
\npandemic strain that could kill millions of people.<\/p>",
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