75% of bird slaughterhouses illegal
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.