A campaign to rid the Indonesian capital of backyard fowl to fight bird flu drew mixed reactions from residents yesterday, with some welcoming it while others worried about losing a key source of income.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso set fire to about about 1,600 chickens, ducks and pigeons that had been slaughtered and dumped into a pit overnight in a densely populated neighborhood.
Some residents responded with cheers of at the launch of the campaign, although the culled birds were not known to have been infected by bird flu.
But it was easy to find people with no intention of giving up their birds, showing the difficulties ahead for Indonesia as it prepares to enforce a ban on fowl in residential areas.
"My chickens are healthy and strong," said Jumadi Akhir, who keeps two fighting cocks and several other ornamental chickens. "I treat them as good as I do my own children. I wash them morning night and day."
Sutiyoso told city residents on Wednesday their backyard fowl would be confiscated and destroyed if they failed to get rid of the birds by the end of the month.
The move follows the deaths of four people in Jakarta and its surrounding areas since the start of the year, taking the number of confirmed human deaths from the virus in Indonesia to 61, the highest in the world.
"We support the government's program. It's better to do this than worrying about being infected," resident Andai Sihombing said.
But some residents were worried about the cost. Many people in Indonesia keep poultry to supplement their meagre incomes.
"The program is good but how can we eat eggs but not chicken?" she asked.
Ade Darmadi, a trader at a nearby bird market, said he had not sold a single bird since the governor announced the ban.
He said even though traders like him could still sell birds, traders and owners would need to get a clean bill of health for birds from authorities. This could discourage buyers.
"I hope officials can be present here to facilitate the certification," he said.
Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari on Thursday said the ban in Jakarta would be extended to eight other provinces that had reported human infections of the H5N1 bird flu virus.
More than a dozen people have been admitted to the hospital with bird flu-like symptoms since the start of the year, although many have been discharged or tested negative for the virus.
Indonesia faces an uphill task controlling the disease. Millions of backyard fowl live in close proximity to humans and health education campaigns have been patchy and rules difficult to enforce.
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