The mass culling campaign to halt the spread of the deadly bird flu virus has failed to win over poultry breeders, who complain compensation is too low for the potential loss of their livelihood.
Breeders in bird flu-affected areas in Lampung, West Java, Central Java and East Java are strongly opposed to the culling.
"What is being done by the government violates existing regulations on the procedure for the culling, including compensation," chairman of the Association of Indonesian Poultry Breeders M. Ali Abubakar said in Cirebon.
The decision to provide compensation of Rp 10,000 (about US$1.08) for each culled bird contravenes procedures because it was arbitrarily determined by the government, Ali said Wednesday.
He said that in line with a 1977 government regulation and 1981 agriculture ministry decree, the compensation must be set by a team formed of government officials and the public.
"I strongly oppose the mass culling as the compensation is much lower than the sale prices of singing birds, reaching up to Rp 300,000 each," bird trader Ismed said in Surabaya.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that the culling of poultry may cost Indonesia up to Rp 3 trillion ($321.08 million) on densely populated Java alone.
"We estimate Rp 1.8 trillion to Rp 3 trillion for affected areas in Java only," Sri Mulyani was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying in Jakarta.
"It will definitely increase our deficit," she said when asked about the impact of the campaign on the government's budget. She added that the government would have to revise the budget to include bird flu's impact.
The government has said that it plans to cull birds within a radius of one kilometer from where any infected birds are found, and vaccinate others within a radius of three kilometers.
But officials also say that various considerations must be factored in before killing birds, including whether a real danger of infection is present.
Hasanuddin, a poultry breeder in Lampung, said he was not worried by the culling campaign because he worked closely with local animal husbandry officials on vaccinating his flock.
"I'm willing to cull the chickens if it's proved they are infected, but I insist the compensation is the same as the market price," he said.
Critics say Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, has failed to act effectively in containing bird flu. Since the country reported its first human infection in July last year, there have been 19 confirmed fatalities from 27 cases.
Experts fear bird flu-causing virus H5N1, which has killed more than 90 people since 2003, mostly in China and Southeast Asia, may mutate into a form that can pass between humans, sparking a pandemic that could claim millions of lives.
(With additional reporting from Wahyoe B. Wardhana in Malang and Nana Rukmana in Cirebon)
National News – The Jakarta Post, February 24, 2006
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