# 1624
A little more than a year ago, January 2007 to be precise, when Indonesia only had 63 deaths attributed to bird flu, the President of that nation issued a proclamation that outlawed backyard poultry in most of the urban areas of that country.
That edict was to be enforced as of February 1st, 2007. Here is one of the reports from January 18th, 2007.
Indonesia issues more restrictions to prevent spread of bird flu
Published: Thursday January 18, 2007
Jakarta- In an attempt to stop a sudden spike in bird flu deaths, Indonesia on Thursday expanded a ban on backyard poultry farms in residential areas to nine provinces.
The ban, which started earlier this week for the capital Jakarta and West Java and Banten provinces, now extends across Java, the world's most densely-populated island, and beyond, according to government officials.
The local media showed culling activity and disinfection teams moving through Jakarta while at the same time opposition to this ban began to show up from local governments and residents.
While success was declared by local officials a few weeks later, the sad truth is, the culling barely made a dent in the number of backyard birds being kept in that nation. The law had no teeth, and it was largely ignored. Backyard poultry today in Jakarta is nearly as ubiquitous as ever.
Twelve months and 40 deaths later, their Health Minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, wants them to consider actually enforcing the ban they adopted a year ago. At least in Jakarta.
But of course, there is still opposition. In Indonesia, there almost always is.
This time, it's from none other than the Governor.
A Hat Tip to Dutchie on CE for this article.
Minister asks for end to city poultry farming
Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Tuesday she expected poultry farming in Jakarta to stop in order to halt the spread of bird flu.
"If possible, both collective and backyard poultry farming must be restricted to curb the spread of the bird flu virus," she said at City Hall after a meeting.
"(It will enable us to) prevent the number of patients contracting bird flu from increasing," she said.
In a meeting presided over by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, senior Cabinet members and government officials discussed efforts to curb bird flu in the three hot-spot provinces of Jakarta, Banten and West Java; flood mitigation in the capital and supply stability for commodities like cooking oil, soy bean and flour.
The meeting was attended by Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo and a number of city and state officials, including Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu and Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto.
Also present at the meeting were Meteorological and Geophysics Agency head Sri Woro B. Harijono, National Police chief Gen. Sutanto, Indonesian Military chief Gen. Djoko Santoso and the Health Ministry's Drug and Food Monitoring Agency head Husniah Rubiana Thamrin Akib.
In response to Siti's statement, Fauzi said the move was unnecessary, saying zoning regulations were more than enough to make sure poultry farming was under control and that the spread of the virus could be limited.
"The President hopes there will be no more deaths caused by bird flu in Jakarta, Banten and West Java this year," he said.
The three provinces have been centers for the H5N1 virus, with a combined 71 fatalities having been recorded out of 103 reported bird flu deaths nationwide.
Jakarta has been the hardest hit, with 25 deaths from 29 reported cases.
"Therefore, Jakarta will set aside special zones for the poultry industry as soon as possible," Fauzi said. "The zones must be far from residences."
He said such special zones would enable the administration to control the poultry industry.
And so it goes . . .
