The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The two-week grace period given to Jakarta's backyard farmers to dispose of their fowls ended Wednesday.
The city administration says it will now conduct door-to-door inspections to ensure farmers have completely culled their chickens, ducks, swans, pigeons and quails.
""If we still find birds in residential areas, we will seize and cull the fowls right away,"" Governor Sutiyoso said Wednesday.
He called on residents not to hide their birds from the officials.
The inspections are designed to enforce a newly-issued gubernatorial regulation on poultry restrictions following the bird flu outbreak that killed four people in Jakarta and the neighboring city of Tangerang this month alone.
The regulation bans backyard poultry starting Feb. 1 and orders residents to consume, sell or slaughter their fowls before that date.
It authorizes officials to seize and cull all fowls reared in residential areas without paying their owners compensation after the two-week period.
The head of the Animal Husbandry and Fishery Agency, Edi Setiarso, said that so far more than 100,000 poultry infected with the bird flu virus in the city had been culled.
The agency has issued 28,000 certificates for healthy birds as required in the regulation, which is about 80 percent of the total number of pet birds in the city.
Sutiyoso said the city will launch a massive campaign on bird flu Thursday. An airplane carrying a big banner reading Berantas Flu Burung (Combat Bird Flu) will fly over Jakarta to start the campaign.
The airplane will take off from Halim Perdana Kusuma airport and fly over several subdistricts in the city: Cideng, Duri Pulo, Rajawali Selatan, Mangga Dua Selatan, Harapan Mulya, Sumur Batu, Paseban, Karet Tengsin, Kebon Melati, Rawasari, Cempaka Putih Timur, Cempaka Putih Barat, Kebon Sirih, Pegangsaan, Menteng, Johar Baru, Kampung Rawa and Tanah Tinggi in Central Jakarta; Rorotan, Pademangan Barat, Sunter Jaya, Tugu Utara, Kelapa Gading Barat and Penjaringan in North Jakarta; Baru, Utan Kayu Selatan, Utan Kayu Utara, Palmeriam, Batu Ampar, Cipinang Melayu, Pondok Kopi, Duren Sawit, Pisangan Timur and Bambu Apus in East Jakarta; Gandaria Utara, Mampang Prapatan, Pasar Minggu, Jagakarsa, Pondok Pinang, Menteng Atas, Cilandak Barat, Duren Tiga, Ulujami and Bukit Duri in South Jakarta.(04)
