Megawati orders selective cull
Megawati orders selective cull
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's government responded to
international criticism, including from the World Health
Organization (WHO), over its handling of the bird flu outbreak by
announcing on Thursday it would conduct a cull of infected
chickens.
Separately, Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih said his
ministry should have moved faster against bird flu, acknowledging
he had received information about the outbreak long before news
of it broke on Sunday. However, he insisted that the information
was still not complete.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with the President,
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said
the government would provide financial compensation to farmers
for their losses.
"The order is clear: slaughter sick chickens, count them and
the government will provide compensation for the loss," the
minister said, adding that the cull was beginning on Thursday.
"We will do it. We will destroy those infected birds. The
healthy ones will be spared," Jusuf said.
Jusuf also promised farmers the government would "replace the
slaughtered chickens with newly hatched chicks, at no charge, of
course".
Jusuf said local husbandry agencies in the regions would
oversee the selective cull, and together with the farmers count
the number of slaughtered chickens.
He did not specify the amount of compensation farmers could
expect. In the past, the government has made promises of aid to
victims of natural disasters, only to forget the pledges as soon
as the country's attention shifted elsewhere.
As late as Wednesday the government was playing down the
threat of bird flu, going only as far as agreeing to vaccinate
chickens.
Although the government failed to meet WHO's demand for a
wholesale cull, only agreeing to a selective cull, the world
organization has expressed its satisfaction.
The WHO representative in Indonesia, Georg Petersen, told The
Jakarta Post that he was pleased with the government's decision
to cull infected chickens.
"We are really pleased that the Indonesian government finally
came up with a proper strategy to handle the spread of bird flu
in Indonesia," Peterson commented.
He added that WHO would provide technical assistance to ensure
all necessary safety procedures were followed for the cull.
Meanwhile, Asian Development Bank (ADB) spokeswoman Ayun
Sundari told the Post that the ADB had allocated up to US$800,000
for each country affected by the bird flu endemic.
"So far, the Indonesian government has not submitted an
official request to the ADB," Sundari said.
Agriculture minister Bungaran requested on Thursday an
emergency fund of Rp 212 billion ($24.9 million) from the House
of Representatives for vaccines, laboratory equipment and to
finance the cull.
He submitted the request during a meeting House Commission
III, which oversees agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
The government hopes to disburse the money early next month.
According to the minister, the country has suffered financial
losses of Rp 7.7 trillion loss from the bird flu outbreak, with
at least 4.7 million chickens having perished. About 1.25 million
people have lost their jobs because of the outbreak.
The infected areas include 51 regencies in 10 provinces, with
the hardest hit areas in Central and East Java.
Asked about the decision to hold a selective cull, Bungaran
said: "A selective stamping out is the most effective measure
given the conditions in Indonesia, and can be justified
scientifically."
The minister became visibly upset when asked about WHO's
recommendation for a mass cull.
"I don't know anything about what they (WHO) say. They haven't
come to me; they should write me a letter. Our position remains
to hold a selective stamping out."