Proposed PMK For Livestock To Be An Extraordinary Occurrence, East Java Chamber Of Commerce: Farmers Are Very Restless Many Livestock Die

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has called on the government to immediately determine the status of an extraordinary event or KLB in an outbreak of nail and mouth disease (PMK) whose cases are now increasingly widespread and the number of victims continues to increase.

"With the determination of the KLB status, the government has even more serious responsibilities, because in handling this case the legal umbrella is clear," said Deputy Chairperson of the East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Agriculture and Food) Dr Edi Purwanto, quoted by Antara, Sunday, June 12.

This Postgraduate Lecturer at Brawijaya University Malang who is also the General Chair of the Insan Cita Agromadani Foundation (ICAM) Indonesia said that with the KLB status, farmers who depend on banks for funding, will also be lighter, for example with the installment relaxation policy.

"Currently, banks do not dare to issue a relaxation policy, because there is no legal umbrella. Therefore, banks are now treating loans from farmers as normal," he said.

The man who is familiarly called Edi Ortega said that at this time the farmers were very nervous because every day there were reports of cows or cattle dying from the FMD virus. In addition to the number of victims that continues to grow, the FMD outbreak is now increasingly spreading and evenly distributed in all regions.

"This condition is exacerbated by the wrong public perception of beef and the like, which assumes that livestock meat affected by FMD is not safe for consumption," he said.

"So the impact is that livestock prices plummet. Cattle which normally cost Rp. 20 million, with PMK it can drop to only Rp. 5 million, or even cattle that have been affected by PMK can be valued at Rp. 3 million to Rp. 4 million only," he continued.

According to him, if the PMK case is only handled like a normal incident, the victims to livestock and breeders will increase. Especially at this time, farmers are faced with the problem of costs for treating sick livestock because it requires no small cost for their size.

"The cost of injecting cows affected by PMK can be hundreds of thousands. If this is not supported by the government, especially local governments, it will be even more difficult for breeders. In those villages, many people depend on these domestic animals for their livelihood. the number of poverty in Indonesia if not immediately taken a policy above normal," he said.

Edi also suggested that local governments establish crisis center posts in each district, even if possible down to the sub-district level. The existence of this crisis center post needs to involve all parties, including the campus community, to help consolidate the overall handling.

"The team from the crisis center can also educate the public in various matters, including understanding that livestock meat affected by FMD is safe for consumption. In fact, the crisis center volunteers also provide psychological assistance to communities shaken by the FMD outbreak," he said.