No Mechanism for Compensation Yet

The government has declared an epidemic of African swine fever in certain parts of North Sumatra. There has been no compensation yet for cattle breeders. However, the government has promised to supply swine stocks.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Agriculture Ministry finally declared the spread of African swine fever (ASF) in Indonesia an epidemic, affecting 16 regencies/cities in North Sumatra. The government has not yet set up a mechanism to provide cattle breeders with compensation. But the government will help the procurement of swine stocks when the epidemic has ended.

In Agriculture Ministerial Decree No.820/2019 dated Dec. 12, the 16 regencies/cities declared as ASF epidemic areas are the regencies of Dairi, Humbang Hasudutan, Deli Serdang, Serdang Bedagai, Karo, Toba Samosir, North Tapanuli, Central Tapanuli, South Tapanuli, Samosir, Simalungun, Pakpak Bharat and Langkat, as well as the cities of Tebing Tinggi, Pematang Siantar and Medan.

“The disease does not plague Indonesia as a whole,” said Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo in Jakarta on Wednesday (18/12/2019).

Agriculture Ministry Animal Husbandry and Health Director General Fadjar Sumping Tjatur Rasa has left the decision to cull pigs to breeders, who can keep up to two pigs as long as they are capable of maintaining the cleanliness of their pens.

The disease does not plague Indonesia as a whole.

The government cannot execute a culling because of the labor and costs needed. But attempts are made to check the spread of the disease and trading routes are closed in the infected areas.

According to Fadjar, on Dec. 15, 28,000-30,000 pigs died in the 16 North Sumatra regencies/cities. If the price is Rp 2 million (US$143.24) to Rp 3 million per pig, the loss incurred by breeders is estimated at Rp 56 billion to Rp 90 billion.

So far, he added, the government has not yet established a compensation mechanism in favor of breeders afflicted with ASF due to budget problems and the responsibility to record official data on cattle and livestock breeding. Yet the government will assist in the supply of swine stocks when the epidemic is over.

KOMPAS/COKORDA YUDISTIRA

Farmer I Made Agustina cleans his pig pen in Banjar Sedang Kelod, Sedang village, Abiansemal district, Badung regency, Bali, on Dec. 9 (9/12/2019). Farmers and local governments in Bali are trying to prevent the spread of African swine fever (ASF) by keeping their livestock healthy and their pig pens clean.

The Agriculture Ministry noted that the first case of swine death was found in Dairi regency on Sept. 4. But at the time, the cause was not definitely known.

“Several symptoms had to be checked, investigated and tested at the laboratory to determine the cause. It took some time before being declared as an epidemic,” Fadjar said.

Some factors were seen as speeding up the spread of the ASF virus in North Sumatra. They were among others cattle transactions between pens; the virus was carried in food leftovers aboard ships, in swine feed equipment and the hiring of studs for reproduction. Dead swine cases mostly involved smallholder breeding pens in bad conditions.

As required by the law, epidemic areas will be subjected to control and an eradication action. The regencies/cities free from ASF and the provinces bordering and/or having land traffic links with North Sumatra are conducting observations, identification, prevention, guarding against the disease and treating domestic animals.

Several symptoms had to be checked.

Fadjar revealed that since the case occurred in China in August-September 2018, the Agriculture Ministry had sent letters to regency/city and provincial administrations in order to be alert. The government also tightened quarantine measures at border crossing gates, appealed the public to keep vigilance, dispatched veterinary teams, provide information and stepped up biosecurity. Virus control is not an easy job. The ASF has also reached advanced countries.

The general chairman of the Indonesian Veterinary Surgeons Association, Muhammad Munawaroh, said the declaration of the ASF epidemic by the Agriculture Minister was very late. According to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the declaration should have been made no later than 24 hours after a case was discovery.

“The disease had prevailed for three months in North Sumatra and spread over 16 regencies/cities, but it was just recently declared by the government,” he said.

According to Munawaroh, the government should immediately close the region, intensify biosecurity measures in epidemic areas and disease-free zones. If necessary, depopulation should be carried out by paying compensation to cattle breeders.

KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA

Farmers show pigs that are suspected to have African swine fever (ASF) in Helvetia village, Sunggal district, Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, on Dec. 9 (9/12/2019). As many as 23,000 pigs have died in 16 districts in North Sumatra in recent months. However, farmers have not received any explanation about the disease.

Technical directives

The head of the Animal Health Division of the North Sumatra Food Resilience and Animal Husbandry Office, Mulkan Harahap, said in Medan on Wednesday he was ready to follow up the ASF epidemic declaration in line with the phase and corridor determined by the Agriculture Ministry. His office was waiting for the ministry’s technical directives for disease control and eradication.

Since the detection of the disease in September, restriction has been imposed on the flow of swine trading and disinfectants have been distributed to cattle breeders.

According to Medan Veterinary Center chief Agustia, his office has continued to communicate the safety of pork consumption to the public because the ASF virus is not transmittable to humans. Consumption is important as a natural means of swine depopulation without inflicting a loss on cattle breeders.

The head of the Agriculture Office of Karo regency, Matehsa Purba, said the control and eradication of ASF being conducted was very limited due to budget constraints. The office has no emergency funds and it is difficult to transfer funds from other budget items because it is the end of the year.

The head of the Class II Agriculture Quarantine Center of Tanjung Pinang, Donni Muksydayan, said cattle and all kinds of processed pork from North Sumatra had been prohibited from entering Riau Archipelago for months. This was arranged in cooperation with the quarantine centers in Belawan and Tanjung Balai Asahan.