Not surprisingly, authorities in Indonesia are running into resistance over their recent mandate to separate the raising of poultry from residential areas. Many families raise a few birds to supplement their income or to provide needed protein for their table. Changing the habits and traditions of millions of people, carried on for generations, won't be easy.
This today from MetroTVnew.com
The PLAN banned the RESIDENT maintained thePOULTRY was opposedMetrotvnews.com, Bekasi:The government Plan to forbid the resident to maintain the poultry received the resident's refusal.
The refusal came from several residents who relied on their production from maintaining the poultry.
Mukhsin, the resident of the Lumbu Swamp District, Bekasi, of West Java, considered the government plan to forbid the resident to maintain the poultry did not make sense and damaging, moreover for the resident who for years has maintained the poultry.
The head of the Health Field of Masyakarat Veteriner the Bekasi Service of City Livestock Breeding, Edy Kadarusman precisely considered the awareness of the community concerning the bird flu danger was still minimal.
According to him, was difficult to ban the resident maintained ungas, because the culture maintained the poultry has been since long before.
Edy admitted the socialisation that was carried out by the Bekasi Service of City Livestock Breeding was not yet understood truly, especially by masyrakat the low layer.
In fact, Bekasi including in the area of the spreading of bird flu.
Since 2005, in the City and the Regency of Bekasi has had six patients died resulting from bird flu.
(BEY)
Indonesia, with 245 million people, is the fourth most populous nation in the world. Unemployment runs roughly 12%, and the per capita GDP is roughly 1/12th that of the United States. The country has been rocked by earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and other natural disasters in recent years.
According to the CIA WORLDFACT BOOK:
Indonesia, a vast polyglot nation, has struggled to overcome the Asian financial crisis, and still grapples with high unemployment, a fragile banking sector, endemic corruption, inadequate infrastructure, a poor investment climate, and unequal resource distribution among regions. Indonesia became a net oil importer in 2004 because of declining production and lack of new exploration investment
The cost of subsidizing domestic fuel placed increasing strain on the budget in 2005, and combined with indecisive monetary policy, contributed to a run on the currency in August 2005, prompting the government to enact a 126% average fuel price hike in October
As hard as it might be for westerners to comprehend, asking residents to give up raising chickens in their backyards is asking a lot. For some, having chickens means the difference between being able to put meat on the table, and not.
Couple this economic hardship with a continuing disbelief that chickens could harbor a deadly disease, and you have a recipe for resistance.
Commercial poultry producers have the possibility of being compensated for a cull, disinfecting their coops, and resuming production. Home growers are looking at a ban, and see little hope for a resumption of their old ways anytime soon.
There have been attempts in the past to prohibit the intermingling of people and poultry in the home setting. Ordinances have been passed, but rarely enforced.
It remains to be seen whether this time will be any different.
