Poultry workers take safety for granted

At several poultry distribution centers in Jakarta which sell live chickens to retailers, no precautionary measures were seen being taken by the workers or customers, despite the bird flu epidemic.

The Jakarta Post observed on Tuesday at the small distribution points in Kemandoran, West Jakarta, and the bigger ones in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, that the employees still worked with their bare hands.

"We never examine chickens we receive from breeders because there has never been anything wrong so far. We also don't need to provide our workers with gloves or disinfectant because, for years, everything has been safe," argued Mario, the owner of one of the distribution centers in Kemandoran.

He said he ordered at least 2,000 chickens daily from several producers in Bogor and Parung, both in West Java, and several breeders in Central Java.

A worker at a different poultry center in Kemandoran, Karjo, said that he had no idea whether he should wear safety gloves or other equipment to prevent him from certain diseases.

He, then, prepared some 200 chickens for a buyer right on the floor.

The buyer, Salman, a chicken retailer who rents a house in an alley behind the poultry center and uses it as a slaughterhouse. "I will slaughter these chickens myself tonight and sell the meat tomorrow."

The situation is similar with the Pulogadung distribution centers where thousands of chickens are brought in daily from West and Central Java. These chickens are distributed to several markets and restaurants in Jakarta.

Marius Widjajarta of the Indonesian Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation highlighted the absence of safety procedures right from the breeding farms up to the chicken vendors.

"The health agency together with other relevant agencies should take steps to ensure that consumers are safe. At least, they should promote to people how to prevent such a disease from spreading," said Marius. -- JP