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."