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few weeks before the Jakarta administration began cleaning up fowl slaughterhouses in inner city areas, chicken retailers at traditional markets expressed an objection to the plan, saying that it would put their business at stake.

Mulyono, 40, who sells chicken meat in Pasar Minggu market, South Jakarta, said he was afraid he would not receive chicken meat when he needed if the administration localized fowl slaughterhouses in the peripheral areas of Jakarta.

“Mostly my customers come to [Pasar Minggu market] before 10 a.m.,” Mulyono, who has been in the business for 15 years, said Sunday.

“Does [the administration] know how to handle severe traffic congestion in the city and deliver meat on time?”

Everyday, Mulyono, who lives nearby the market, takes between 40 and 50 chickens from a slaughterhouse beside his house.

If the slaughterhouse runs out of stock, he drives his motorcycle to another slaughterhouse in Kalibata, South Jakarta.

Saipuddin, 35, an organic chicken retailer in Kramat Jati market, East Jakarta, also shared similar concern.

“If the city administration worries about poultry hygiene, why don’t they remove the slaughterhouses for broiler chicken first?,” Mulyono said.

“It is a public secret that all broiler chickens have been injected with chemicals so they grow faster.”

Mulyono, who buys organic chicken from suppliers in Sukabumi and Cikampek, West Java, said he could sell up to 500 chickens monthly.

To curb the spread of bird flu, the Jakarta administration issued in 2007 a bylaw to ban backyard farming and planned to remove all fowl slaughterhouses from inner city areas by April.

The agency has also named five new locations for poultry slaughterhouses in the peripheral areas of Jakarta, including Rawa Kepiting and Cakung in East Jakarta; Rorotan in North Jakarta; Petukangan in South Jakarta and Kalideres in West Jakarta.

Those missing the April target face six-month jail sentences and fines of up to Rp 50 million (US$5,400).

Most vendors have expressed their objection to the plan, pointing out the new locations are far from the city center where customers are.

In a recent discussion, Edy Setiarto, head of the city’s husbandry, fishery and maritime agency, ensured the relocation of the fowl slaughterhouses would not affect the stability of meat supply in the city. The agency, for example, has prepared 250 freezers to help vendors in the city’s wet markets keep chicken meat fresh.

“The freezers help vendors maintain meat quality and ensure the meat is sold at a reasonable price,” he said.

According to data from the agency, Jakarta needs around 600,000 chickens every day.

Bird flu, or avian influenza was first detected to spread to humans in Indonesia in July 2005.

From 2005 to 2009, the Health Ministry recorded a total of 161 human cases across the country, 134 of which killed patients. Last month, a 25-year-old Jakarta resident died with the disease.