Tangerang warns pig farmers

TANGERANG (JP): The Tangerang Regency Office warned all pig farm owners in the area to handle disposal of their animals' waste correctly to avoid upsetting nearby residents.

Regency spokeswoman Ena Karlina said the authorities were powerless to prevent people running pig farms on their properties, despite never having issued permits authorizing the practice.

"The farms are illegal, but they are no different from chicken or goat farms, so we are powerless to take stiff measures against them," she said.

But Karlina said that pig owners should be careful how they treated waste from their farms.

Last week, hundreds of residents from the villages of Kohod, Tanjung Burung, Tanjung Pasir and Melayu Barat in Pakuaji district here went to the regency office to demand the closure of a pig farm in their area.

The protesters said the closure of the breeding center was badly needed because its owners dumped waste straight into the nearby Cisadane river, where local residents bath, wash clothes and take drinking water.

"Moreover the pig farm, which started operating in 1983, also spreads a really bad smell over the surrounding area," H. Sanusi, the protesters' spokesman, said.

Most people living near the farm, he said, were devout Moslems who frequently perform ablution in the river before praying. (41/jun)