City considers relocating poultry slaughterhouses

JAKARTA (JP): The city hopes to improve its handling of the waste produced by poultry slaughterhouses by relocating them to less residential areas.

The head of the city's husbandry agency, Soemitro, said yesterday that his office and related agencies are reviewing a plan to find new locations.

Most of the slaughterhouses are located in residential areas because they are close to markets. As a result, the surrounding areas are being contaminated due to waste treatment problems at the slaughterhouses.

He added, however, that relocation poses several problems.

"We also have to think about people losing their jobs.

"Maybe we'll use a slaughterhouse owned by PD Dharma Jaya in Cakung, East Jakarta, as a pilot project," he said, without specifying when the project might begin.

"Chicken waste takes time to treat and not all of the slaughterhouses have the facilities. The agency has been helping some of them with simple waste treatment facilities by building septic tanks," he said.

However, he said, septic tanks are not enough to significantly reduce the effects of waste on the surroundings.

He said several chicken farmers have bought land in Cigudeg, Bogor, West Java, and plan to relocate their farms there.

Nearly 1,300 slaughterhouses operate in five mayoralties, slaughtering 250,000 chickens per day.

"They can meet the demands in Jakarta, except for hotels and international restaurants," he said. (yns)