# 2388
Via Crof's blog, we get this article in today's Jakarta Post by Emmy Fitri and Triwik Kurniasari, on plans to phase out the sale of live chickens in the traditional markets of Jakarta.
Live markets have long been viewed as one of the major risk factors for the spread of avian flu.
The goal is to remove them by 2010.
Ag Ministry outlines poultry plans
Emmy Fitri and Triwik Kurniasari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Serang
Jakarta will clear out smaller-scale poultry industries by 2010 as part of its efforts to prevent more deaths from bird flu, agricultural authorities said Tuesday.
Muhammad Azhar, the Agriculture Ministry's coordinator for bird-flu control, said only six poultry-processing plants located on Jakarta's outskirts would be eligible to distribute chicken meat to traditional markets. Two years ago the city issued a poultry-restriction bylaw to enable such efforts.
"We hope by 2010 no live chickens will be sold at traditional markets. It's not an easy job for Jakarta, with its huge population and high density, to get rid of poultry industries, since these small-scale enterprises are the main income for many people. But this challenging target has to be met."
The planned restructuring of chicken farms and processing plants in the capital is apparently in line with key points in the 2007 much-praised bylaw on poultry restriction. Critics have only pointed out the government's inattention to enforcing the law.
