75% of bird slaughterhouses illegal
Bambang Nurbianto and Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Around 75 percent of over 500,000 chickens distributed to Jakarta's markets have been slaughtered in illegal slaughterhouses despite a bylaw stipulating those who run the businesses must have licenses.
Such a condition has meant difficulties for the Jakarta Poultry, Fishery and Maritime Agency to ensure that chicken meat and eggs distributed to markets are free from various diseases including an ongoing outbreak of bird flu.
Head of the meat products health division at the agency Hery Indyanto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that only around 50 of over 1,000 chicken slaughterhouses in the city have proper licenses issued by the agency.
"Punishment for those who violate the bylaw is very clear, a six-month jail term and/or a Rp 5-million (US$595) fine. But the enforcement is not easy," he said.
Hery referred to Bylaw No.1/2001 on amendment of punishment stated in city bylaws issued before Law No. 22/1999 on regional administrations became effective.
He said his agency had the authority to close down slaughterhouses. But it could not crack down against the owners because most of them were managed by small-scale businessmen with capacities of only around 50 to 100 chickens per day.
The government admitted on Sunday that bird flu had caused the deaths of some 40 percent of the country's 4.7 million chickens since last August, although on Saturday Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih claimed the country was free from the disease.
The Bali Health Agency, however, reported on Tuesday a suspected case of bird flu in a three-year-old boy in Bali.
Hery said the agency head was expected to issue an order for all officials at all city levels -- subdistricts and municipalities/regencies -- to "keep alert" to prevent the disease's spread.
The measures expected from those officials include strengthening supervision of chicken transports into the city and checking chicken health both in transit and at slaughterhouses.
"We will deny all chickens sent to the city if they are not accompanied by a letter from a local poultry agency vouching for its health," Hery said.
He, however, advised the public not to panic over the outbreak because the virus could be killed by cooking chicken meat or eggs properly. The meat must be at a temperature above 80 Celsius and above 60 Celsius for eggs.
Several chicken transit houses in Jakarta, at Kemandoran, West Jakarta and Pulogadung, East Jakarta, have not been prepared with the precautionary safety equipment to prevent the disease from spreading.
There are about six transit houses that sell chicken to retailers in Kemandoran. More than a dozen retailers slaughter the hens themselves in the crowded neighborhood.
"I see nothing dangerous with these chickens, so why should we wear anything special for this daily activity?," opined Burhan, one of the workers there.
Transit houses in the Pulogadung area have much bigger capacity to hold chickens before selling them to various markets and restaurants in Jakarta or to nearby retailers. There are at least three complexes, containing several transit houses, that are capable of distributing thousands of chickens daily.
"We consider all these chickens to be healthy because we've experience no disease that is harmful to human beings. There are several chickens that have died or were sick out of the 12,000 chickens I receive every day. But that's normal," said one of the transit house owners who declined to mention his name.