REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said the provincial government has issued a regulation in 2007 to control the movement and trade of live poultry in protecting the city residents from the threats of bird flu virus. Anies said the regulation was important to ensure that Jakarta is free from avian influenza (bird flu).

"And to provide the city residents with safe and healthy poultry products," he was quoted by the FAO-Jakarta office as saying at the opening of "Road to Zero Hunger Festival" on Sunday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) noted that, in the last 11 years, there have been 200 cases of avian influenza found in humans in Indonesia, and the Greater Jakarta area recorded the highest number of the cases in the country.

Those cases, as revealed in the FAO press statement made available to Antara, have caused 168 deaths, and the rootcauses of bird flu cases in Jakarta could likely be related to the high level of live poultry entering the capital city.

Similarly, Samsul Ma'arif, Director of Veterinary Public Heatlh of the Ministry of Agriculture, stated that surveillance in the poultry market in the Greater Jakarta area since 2009 indicated that avian flu virus is commonly found.

"Currently, more than 10 locations of markets and other facilities in Jakarta have been assisted as pilot project to implement bio-security practice in the market and to be adopted by the local government to the market and other slaughterhouses," he said.

Meanwhile, Stephen Rudgard, FAO Representative in Indonesia, explained that FAO has worked through the market restructuring program to help market actors and slaughterhouses to process poultry cleanly, to disinfect poultry transport vehicles, improve market cleanliness, and increase the awareness of poultry sellers and consumers.

"By improving the quality of poultry processing along the market chain, we believe this will contribute positively to the global goal of combating hunger and providing healthy food for everyone by 2030," he said.

The Road to #ZeroHunger festival was held to increase public awareness and spotlight action on eradicating hunger and providing healthy food for everyone by 2030. The Ayam ASUH campaign was promoted, which aimed at providing chicken and other poultry meat that is ASUH (Safe, Healthy and Whole, and Halal).

The festival was held by the Jakarta Provincial Government to celebrate World Food Day along with the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, FAO, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

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