Poultry breeders cold to culling campaign, compensation offer
INDONESIA - The mass culling campaign to halt the spread of the deadly bird flu virus has failed to win over poultry breeders, who complain compensation is too low for the potential loss of their livelihood.Breeders in bird flu-affected areas in Lampung, West Java, Central Java and East Java are strongly opposed to the culling.
"What is being done by the government violates existing regulations on the procedure for the culling, including compensation," chairman of the Association of Indonesian Poultry Breeders M. Ali Abubakar said in Cirebon.
The decision to provide compensation of Rp 10,000 (about US$1.08) for each culled bird contravenes procedures because it was arbitrarily determined by the government, Ali said Wednesday.
He said that in line with a 1977 government regulation and 1981 agriculture ministry decree, the compensation must be set by a team formed of government officials and the public.
Source: The Jakarta Post
24 February 2006
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