Jakarta, Sept 16 (Antara) - Indonesian Muslims who comprise about 90 percent of the country's 250 million population will observe the Islamic holiday of Eid Adha next week and will slaughter sacrificial animals as part of the religious rituals.
The Ministry of Agriculture said there was no need to import cattle to be used as sacrificial animals as local breeders could meet the demand.
An expert working with the Investment Affairs Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Syukur Iwantoro, said on Tuesday that 28,000 heads of cattle have been made available so far by local breeders in Jakarta to be used as sacrificial animals.
"There is adequate stock of local cows. We may even have a surplus situation," he said during a meeting on stock and price of beef, convened by the state logistics board, Bulog. The cattle stock is available in West Java, Central Java and East Java.
The cows will be distributed among a number of abattoirs or markets specifically prepared for Eid Adha holiday. About 28,000 heads of cattle are normally adequate to meet the need for beef in a month.
Therefore, according to Iwantoro, who formerly worked as Director General of Animal Husbandry and Animal Health with the Ministry of Agriculture, there was no need for the government to import cows to meet the demand for sacrificial animals for Eid Adha, which will fall on September 24 this year.
State-owned logistics company Bulog's President Director Djarot Kusumayakti said Bulog did not import the thousands of cows for Eid Adha. In fact, these imports were meant to stabilise the price of beef that had already reached Rp100,000-Rp115,000 per kilogram (kg).
Bulog imported over 2,300 cows from Australia which have arrived at the Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta.
"These cows are being directly taken to cowsheds belonging to the state-owned company, Berdikari. We will distribute them in the market in the next two weeks to stabilize prices," he said.
Kusumayakti said no animal can be used for the purpose of this religious ritual if it suffered from any physical defect, while some of the cattle imported from Australia were castrated or had their ears pierced.
"Clearly, these are not suitable to be slaughtered as sacrificial animals," he said.
He said his office would soon intervene in the market to bring down beef prices to about 100,000 per kg.
Bulog will conduct market operations in only three provinces of Jakarta, West Java and Banten, the centers of meat consumption. These three are not cattle producing provinces as evident from the high beef prices. Beef prices remained stable in 30 other provinces.
"The market operations will be carried out wherever beef prices zoom too high. If prices increased in Jakarta, West Java and Banten, then market operations will be conducted there," he said.
The Ministry of Agriculture revealed that 298,861 heads of feedlot cows had been imported by the end of the second quarter.
The Director General for Animal Husbandry and Animal Health of the Ministry of Agriculture, Muladno Bashar, said earlier this month that of these, 97,618 were imported in the first quarter (January-March 2015) and 201,243 in the second quarter (April - June 2015).
He said the target was to import 567,624 heads of feedlot cows in the second semester, and it was achieved to the extent of 75.2 percent.
Bashar said that importers have been issued a permit to import 50,000 cows in the third quarter (July -September 2015).
However, imported cows are not intended to be used as sacrificial animals which should meet certain health, age and gender criteria.
In the meantime, the Marine Affairs, Agriculture and Food Resilience Services of Jakarta (KPKP) has ensured that cattle sold in the market for Eid Adhya are healthy and meet the norms fixed for sacrificial animals.
"We have coordinated with suppliers in various regions. Only animals for which animal health certificates (SKKH) have been obtained from the authorized veterinarians in the region of origin can be supplied," the head of Jakarta KPKP, Darjamuni, said on Thursday (Sept.10)
Darjamuni said at 10,037 cows, 111 buffalos, 32,036 goats and 1,318 sheep, the demand for sacrificial animals in Jakarta during the Eid Adhya this year is estimated to be the same as last year.
Till September 9, the number of places where sacrificial animals could be kept in Jakarta had reached 49, while 1,944 cows, 407 goats, 177 sheep and 13 buffalos were still to undergo health checks.
"We suggested that committees meant to procure sacrificial animals should purchase these from slaughter houses (RPH), such as those in the cattle market in Cakung, RPH Pulogadung and at other animal accommodation or sale centers decided by the local authorities," said Darjamuni.
He said that documents related to the health of animals at such places are checked after collecting the required data.
"In case of animals that have undergone checks and found fit to be used as sacrificial, stickers certifying the fact would be provided. Such animals are guaranteed as being healthy males, not skinny, free from physical defects and old enough to meet the norms," noted Darjamuni.
He said that officials from the office of the Jakarta KPKP check the health of animals at these accommodation houses and health certificates are issued only after ascertaining that they meet the conditions as sacrificial animals.
"A total of 790 health officials will be deployed to examine the sacrificial animals in order to guarantee healthy meat for consumers," asserted Darjamuni.
Health officials will be on hand to assist at the animal accommodation houses and abattoirs in various places in Jakarta.
"The animal health examination services will be provided free of charge," according to Darjamuni.***3***(T. A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.SYS/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 16-09-2015 20:20:29 |
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