I hope those four provinces would form the task force
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Home Affairs has called on regional governments to immediately set up a task force to handle foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in livestock in their respective regions.

"Specifically, the head of the national (FMD) task force has issued a circular for the formation of the task force (in regions) and what are their duties and functions. Thus, the minister of home affairs reiterated that the FMD task force should be formed immediately in their respective regions," Secretary of the ministry's Directorate General for Regional Development Sri Purwaningsih stated at a national coordination meeting on FMD here on Wednesday.

Purwaningsih revealed that based on the ministry's data, the four provinces of North Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, North Maluku, and West Papua had not formed the FMD task force.

"I hope those four provinces would form the task force," she said.

Moreover, she noted that the Ministry of Home Affairs is urging regional governments to appoint a veterinary authority official (POV) immediately.

Purwaningsih said South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, North Maluku, and West Papua were four provinces that had not appointed a POV.

She further explained that after they had formed an FMD task force and appointed a POV, the regional governments were urged to maximize their roles and control the movement of animals and animal products to curb FMD transmission.

Regional governments are also urged to report actively regarding the implementation and the status of FMD handling in their respective regions.

"This is essential because the faster the coordination between the central and regional (governments), the faster the regional governments can successfully control FMD and inform about it, then the faster the follow-up strategy for overall handling will be," she remarked.

Purwaningsih noted that in handling FMD, multi-sectoral collaboration is deemed necessary, quite akin to handling COVID-19.

According to the FMD Handling Task Force data, as of November 22, 2022, five provinces that recorded the highest number of active cases of FMD are Central Java, with 16,439 cases; followed by East Java, 8,950 cases; West Nusa Tenggara, 7,508 cases; Yogyakarta, 3,979 cases; and South Sulawesi, 3,178 cases.

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Translator: Suci Nurhaliza, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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