JAKARTA RESTAURANTS FORBIDDEN TO SLAUGHTER PIGS

Jakarta, April 29 (ANTARA) - The Jakarta city administration has forbidden restaurants offering pork menus to slaughter pigs themselves as a measure to anticipate swine flu outbreaks.

The pork they sell must come from the slaughter house in Kapuk, West Jakarta, which is guaranteed virus-free by doctors, Jakarta Vice Governor Prijanto said here on Wednesday.

"I have ordered city mayors and agriculture and marine services to record all restaurants and food stalls that sell pork in the city," he said.

All of the restaurants and food stalls will be given a notice to not conduct slaughtering to prevent the disease that has killed 149 people in Mexico and was feared to spread to various other countries.

So far several restaurants and food stalls have bought pigs from farms in Tangerang and slaughter them themselves for efficiency.

However with regard to the swine flu outbreak the Jakarta city administration has ordered all restaurants and food stalls in the city to buy pork from the slaughter house in Kapuk.

East Jakarta mayor Murdhani said his administration had started making an inventory of slaughter houses in the area. He said he would ask the slaughter houses to stop operating in 1x24 hours, adding he would immediately send the notice.

The capital city's fishery, marine and food resilience service meanwhile has tightened control of incoming pigs from other regions.

The head of the office, Edi Setiarto, said no pig in Jakarta had been found infected by the virus so far.