- Title: INDONESIA: CRITICISM OF INDONESIA'S HANDLING OF OUTBREAK OF BIRD FLU
- Date: 26th January 2004
- Summary: (W3)TABANAN DISTRICT, BALI (JANUARY 26, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE/PAN OF POULTRY FARM COMPLEX IN PENEBEL VILLAGE 0.08 2. WIDE OF INTERIOR OF POULTRY FAMR WITH CHICKENS 0.14 3. VARIOUS OF WORKERS TAKING OUT DEAD CHICKENS, PUTTING THEM IN RICE SACKS 0.29 4. CLOSEUP OF DEAD CHICKENS ON FLOOR 0.30 5. VARIOUS OF WORKER BURYING DEAD CHICKENS 0.55 6. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) WAYAN SUANA, FARMER, SAYING "We don't know what is wrong with our chickens yet. We did report to the agriculture department and they did come. But we still could not yet determine the disease. They came on the 17th" 1.12 7. VARIOUS OF WOMEN COLLECTING EGGS 1.21 8. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) WAYAN SUANA SAYING "We haven't given the vaccine (given by the government) because we had already had to buy our own from other places. Those are from China. (Q: Are they working?) Because the chickens were already infected by the virus, they got worse and died when we give them the vaccine." 1.47 9. VARIOUS OF WORKER LOOKING AT EMPTY CAGES INSIDE FARM 1,58 JAKARTA, INDONESIA (JANUARY 26, 2004) (REUTERS) 10. WIDE OF INTERVIEW WITH CHAIRMAN OF INDONESIAN FARMERS ASSOCIATION, SISWONO YUDHOHUSODO 2.02 11. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) SISWONO YUDHOHUSODO, CHAIRMAN OF INDONESIAN FARMERS ASSOCIATION, SAYING "The farmers were made to believe that their chickens died of Newcastle disease, thus they were given the vaccine for Newcastle. Now they announced that it is bird flu. I deeply regret that it takes so long for the government to explain what is going on despite millions that had died. And it all started from very few deaths in Pekalongan. This only shows that our government was not alert enough to prevent such a devastating virus" 2.38 12. CLOSEUP OF HANDS 2.43 13. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) SISWONO YUDHOHUSODO, CHAIRMAN OF INDONESIAN FARMERS ASSOCIATION, SAYING "The problem with this outbreak is not that it is dangerous but also fast-spreading. I think the government must take stronger actions in handling the bird flu outbreak so that it can be dealt with effectively. They must listen to the experts" 3.03 14. VARIOUS OF WOMAN SPRAYING CHICKEN COOP 3.13 DENPASAR, BALI (JANUARY 26, 2004) (REUTERS) 15. WIDE OF INTERVIEW WITH BALI HEAD OF AGRICULTURE MINISTRY, I GUSTI MADE ALIT EKAPUTRA 3.18 16. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) I GUSTI MADE ALIT EKAPUTRA, BALI HEAD OF AGRICULTURE MINISTRY, SAYING "They will have to think and manage for themselves. They must also be ready to sacrifice. In the meantime, they are the ones who could calculate whether it is economical for them to destroy the chickens or let live the surviving ones -- even if they still die in the end. If we recommended the culling, we would not have the fund to compensate the loss." 3.45 TABANAN DISTRICT, BALI (JANUARY 26, 2004) (REUTERS) 17. SLV WOMAN SHOWING HOMEMADE MIX OF VITAMIN C AND PLANT CATALYST USED FOR SPRAYING THE CHICKEN COOPS 3.50 18. CLOSE OF PACKETS 3.54 19. WIDE OF POULTRY PENS 3.57 20. VARIOUS OF ANOTHER WOMAN PUTTING DEAD CHICKEN TO RICE SACK 4.10 21. VARIOUS OF WOMAN AND DAUGHTER WALKING TOWARDS RIVER 4.29 22. SLV WOMAN THROWING DEAD CHICKENS INTO RIVER 4.34 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 10th February 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, BALI; JAKARTA, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Reuters ID: LVA6YDGKAVBKWW6L2XSEKQXDAE1J
- Story Text: Indonesia comes under fire over its handling of the
bird flu outbreak as poultry farmers fight to save what is left of their farms.
Poultry farmers across Indonesia are baffled by
the hands-off approach taken by the government in coping
with the bird flu outbreak.
Many farmers are still left not knowing what virus that
actually attacked their chickens.
"We don't know what is wrong with our chickens yet. We
did report to the agriculture department and they did come.
But we still could not yet determine the disease. They came
on the 17th," said Wayan Suana, a farmer in Bali's Penebel
village who have lost 25,000 chickens since the beginning
of this year.
Believing that the deaths were due to Newscastle
disease, Suana himself bought vaccines for the remaining
healthy chickens because the government did not help him
with any until January 18. "We haven't given the
vaccine (given by the government)
because we had already had to buy our own from othe
places. Those were from China," Suana said.
But when asked whether vaccinating the remaining
flocks worked, Suana said: "because the chickens were
already infected by the virus, they got worse and died when
we give them the vaccine".
Disinformation and slow action by the government have
been blamed for the millions of poultry deaths and bird flu
outbreak in Indonesia.
The agriculture ministry said Sunday (January 25) 4.7
million chickens had died since August, and 40 percent were
infected both with avian influenza and Newscastle disease.
It said, however, that there is no evidence the disease
had spread to humans.
"The farmers were made to believe that their chickens
died of Newcastle disease, thus they were given the vaccine
for Newcastle. Now they announced that it is bird flu. I
deeply regret that it takes so long for the government to
explain what is going on despite millions that had died.
And it all started from very few deaths in Pekalongan. This
only shows that our government was not alert enough to
prevent such devastating virus," said Siswono Yudhohusodo,
chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Association.
The government had previously insisted Indonesia was
free of the flu and blamed the deaths of chickens in East
Java and the tourist island of Bali on Newcastle disease, a
virus harmless to humans and that does not affect the
safety of poultry meat.
It so far denied any cover-up of the outbreak, saying
authorities had found a strain of avian influenza in
poultry in December but had not wanted to jump the gun and
assume it was dangerous to people.
"The problem with this (bird flu) outbreak is not that
it is dangerous but also fast-spreading. I think the
government must take stronger actions in handling the bird
flu outbreak so that it can be dealt with effectively. They
must listen to the experts," Yudhohusodo said, referring to
government's steps in handling the outbreak.
Indonesia has said it has no plans for mass culling of
poultry and instead recommended quarantining affected
farms, urged clean-up and pledged to distribute vaccines.
The ministry of health has also said it planned to
conduct blood tests for poultry farm workers in affected
areas.
With information and assistance trickling slowly to
farms, poultry farmers across the provinces, especially
those that are small-scale and family-run, are left to
face the mounting problems on their own.
"They will have to think and manage for themselves.
They must also be ready to sacrifice. In the meantime, they
are the ones who could calculate whether it is economical
for them to destroy the chickens or let live the surviving
ones even if they still die in the end. If we recommended
the culling, we wouldn't have the fund to compensate the
loss," said I Gusti Made Alit Ekaputra, head of Bali's
department of agriculture, adding that Bali has lost some
390,000 poultry in the past few months.
With the government's hands-off approach, many
uneducated farmers in Bali were using homemade mix of
disinfectant or vitamins to fight the outbreak.
Workers in family-run farms did not know any better
than throwing dead chickens into the river, which is
serious a health hazard.
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