Bird flu scares people off chicken, fish sales rice

Bird flu scares people off chicken, fish sales rice

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The country's first confirmed human fatalities from bird flu in
Tangerang have proven a boon for some people and a blow for
others.

With many people in the area near where the three deaths
occurred now hesitant to eat chicken, fish vendors have been
earning record profits.

Komarudin, 51, a fish vendor at Malabar market in Perumnas
Karawaci, said his daily sales had risen 50 percent.

"I make up to Rp 1 million a day now," the trader from Banten
said, adding that he used to take home about Rp 500,000.

He said that even though the price of fish and shrimp had
risen, there was no shortage of customers.

Fish vendors at Pasar Anyar and Cikokol markets are also
enjoying booming sales.

In contrast, chicken sellers have seen their sales drop
drastically.

"I feel so lucky because I am selling more fish than usual. On
the other hand, it is difficult to enjoy because my friends who
sell chickens are staring at piles of unsold chicken," said
Amawi, 46, a fish vendor at the municipality's downtown market.

Falling chicken sales have been cited as a motive in the
suicide of a 22-year-old poultry farm owner from Cisauk district,
Tangerang regency.

The man committed suicide after running amok and breaking a
window at a house owned by his parents in Dangdang village last
Thursday.

"After the window broke, Jimmy took a long piece of glass and
slit his neck and stabbed himself in the stomach," the man's
younger brother told The Jakarta Post at Tangerang General
Hospital on Friday.

"My brother was so worried he would go bankrupt because people
do not want to eat chicken," he said.

Separately, to prevent the spread of bird flu in the
municipality, poultry and agriculture agency head Sudirman said
he had formed a team to take blood samples from poultry for
testing.