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.