Chicken stalls cry foul over plan to shut them down
Written by Writer on Thursday, November 20th, 2008
Chicken stalls cry foul over plan to shut them down
Sellers and buyers of live and freshly slaughtered chickens are objecting to the city’s plan to close 1,200 chicken stalls by 2010 because of concerns about avian flu.
Syaiful, a chicken butcher in Tanah Abang market, Central Jakarta, said if his business was closed down, he would lose not only his livelihood, but also his customers, who prefer to buy live chickens and have them slaughtered in front of them according to Islamic law.
“My customers do not like buying already slaughtered chickens. They want to watch the slaughtering process to ensure it is done properly,” he said.
As one customer, Jayadi, said, “If I can’t see the slaughtering process, then I can’t be sure whether the chicken was cut in the proper way. If bismillah is not said, the chicken meat is not halal.”
Syaiful said if the plan went ahead, he would eventually be driven out of business, costing the jobs of his seven employees.
“We have no other skills; we will have a hard time finding work so we can feed our family,” said Awi, one of Syaiful’s employees.
The animal husbandry, fisheries and marine agency announced earlier this week that chicken slaughtering would be restricted to three slaughterhouses in Rawa Kepiting, Pulogadung and Cakung, all in East Jakarta.
“Jakarta will not have live chickens anymore in 2010. All chickens will have to be slaughtered and cleaned before they enter the city. We are making people aware of this, so they can stop their businesses and start something else,” agency head Edy Setiarto said.
He said that to help people change their businesses, his agency had prepared delivery vehicles and cold storage equipment to hold up to 5 tons of meat for chicken suppliers in Rawa Kepiting and Cakung.
“The people working in the business can switch to selling slaughtered chickens or processed chicken meat, such as meatballs, nuggets and chicken pieces,” he added.
He said East Jakarta and Central Jakarta had the most slaughterhouses in the city, with 720 and 360, respectively.
“The slaughterhouses (market stalls) deal with only a small number of chickens, only between 50 and 200 chickens per day, and it is difficult for us to monitor them. If the slaughter activity is concentrated in three places, it will be much easier for us to monitor,” he said.
About 600,000 chickens enter the city every day, of which 200,000 are live, Edy said. The chickens come from cities in West Java, such as Sukabumi, Tasikmalaya and Ciamis.
The 2010 target is part of Jakarta’s long-term plan to prevent the spread of bird flu in the capital. The city already has a bylaw prohibiting the circulation of live chickens by banning backyard farming. However, it has not been strictly enforced.
Of the 112 confirmed deaths from the bird flu virus crossing over to the human population, 28 occurred in Jakarta.
By May 2008, the agency had culled nearly 31,000 chickens, compared with more than 78,000 in the whole of 2007. The number of certified domestic birds reached 50,215 this year and 68,484 last year.
The agency previously declared 11 subdistricts at risk of bird flu. The subdistricts are Pesanggrahan and Kebayoran Lama in South Jakarta, Cakung, Pulo Gadung, Matraman and Duren Sawit in East Jakarta, Cengkareng and Kalideres in West Jakarta, Johar Baru and Senen in Central Jakarta, and Cilincing in North Jakarta. (hdt)
Tifa Asrianti , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 11/20/2008 10:41 AM | City
