ITS pigs exports to Singapore unaffected

Fadli, The Jakarta Post/Batam

The government's plan to carry out of cull of pig at two farms in Tangerang, Banten, has not affected PT Indo Tirta Suaka (ITS) based near Batam, which exports pork to Singapore, an official said.

ITS production manager Titus said exports to Singapore remained high, despite headlines of bird flu deaths in Indonesia.

"We still export 1,000 pigs to Singapore per day, which accounts for 20 percent of the country's demand. We are facing tough competition from farms in Canada, England and Australia," he said recently.

ITS supervisor Paulus said that Singapore's Ministry of Health officials have visited the farm on Bulan island, Riau Islands, to check the pigs' health before they were exported to the city- state.

"Singapore's health ministry frequently sends their officials here to check the health of our animals. It's been a cooperative measure between ITS and our partners," he explained.

Bulan island is fully occupied by ITS for its livestock farm, crocodile breeding and orchid gardens. Therefore, Paulus said, only the firm's employees live on the island.

"Nobody but employees are allowed to get near the pig farm," he said.

"We tightly monitor our employees' health condition so we can maintain an early detection system should they have any virus," Titus said.

Paulus also said that he has yet to find any symptoms of avian influenza in the firm's 240,000 swine.

Femmy, a veterinarian at the Batam animal and plants quarantine office, said her office had not yet found any poultry or other livestock test positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

The government plans to carry out a mass cull to control the spread of the bird flu virus, following confirmation that the virus killed a man and his two young daughters in Tangerang earlier this month.