# 382
With less than 24 hours to go before the deadline for the removal of all backyard and residential poultry in Jakarta, suddenly I’m unable to find much in the way of news coverage of this story. A quick scan of the on-line version of the Jakarta Post shows nothing aside from an article where commercial producers proclaim that they can safely raise chickens in a safer manner than backyard producers.
The decree, issued two weeks ago, has been met with more than a little resistance from citizens and government officials. This is how it was reported on the 17th of January.
Jakarta bans backyard poultry from February 1 to fight bird flu
"As of today, 17 January 2007, until 31 January 2007, people are asked to voluntarily eliminate their pet fowls but by consuming it in the proper way... selling them, or destroying them," Sutiyoso said after leading a meeting on bird flu at the city hall.
"As of 1 February 2007 it will be forbidden to keep birds in residential environments," he added.
He said people who destroyed their poultry would be eligible for compensation of 12,500 rupiah (about 1.4 dollars) per bird.
The governor's decree covers chicken, ducks, swans, quails and pigeons.
Over the next 14 days there was some confusion over whether compensation would be paid (apparently only for birds with H5N1), and which birds that could be exempted by getting a health certificate.
While the central government was announcing that this policy would be extended first to 9 provinces, then across the entirety of Indonesia, cracks in the coalition were developing. Authorities in the Central Javan Province, Pandeglang regency and Cilegon municipality all stated they would not go along with this edict.
Critics of this ban are starting to point out that the recent evidence that other vectors may carry the virus, including cats, dogs, and perhaps even flies, could make the removal and culling of residential poultry a wasted effort.
Until the deadline tomorrow, culling, selling, or consuming of residential poultry is voluntary. Early on, after the decree, news media carried coverage of some public, largely symbolic cullings, where thousands of chickens were slaughtered, displayed, and then handed out as food. But in the last few days, very little coverage has shown up in the media.
It is therefore impossible to know how much compliance has occurred. With an estimated 350 million backyard and residential fowl in Indonesia, however, it is a safe bet that most remain in place.
Indonesia is battling a Dengue outbreak, and flooding from the yearly rainy season has returned, increasing the mosquito problem. Starting tomorrow, enforcing this backyard poultry ban gets added to the list of things the government intends to do to protect the public welfare.
None of this will be popular in a country were raising chickens is not only traditional; it is an invaluable part of many families diet and a source of extra income.
What remains to be seen is how committed the government is to seeing these new regulations enforced, and if they will have any beneficial effects.
