West Java to ban pig farming due to MUI’s ‘haram’ edict

The Jakarta Post, Bandung/Batam Tue, August 14 2012,


The West Java provincial administration plans to close all pig farms in the Muslim majority province following the implementation of a ban on pig farming in provincial draft ordinance concerning animal husbandry and animal health.

West Java Husbandry Agency head Koesmayadi Tatang Padmadinata said the ban on pig farming was related to potential environmental pollution.

“The Indonesian Ulema Council [MUI] edict on impurities states that Muslims are forbidden from coming into contact with any dirt related to pigs. That’s the problem,” Koesmayadi said in Bandung on Monday.

He added that the regulation to set up a livestock farm was not based on animal type, but it would be different with pigs due to the haram (forbidden in Islam) edict.

Koesmayadi said that in West Java, pig farms were mostly located in the highlands area of Cigugur in Kuningan.

In the regulation, pig farms must be located on land with the lowest water flow. “In predominant Muslim West Java, it could be a problem. The farms are located on higher ground, while based on the law of gravity, water flows downward,” he said.

Koesmayadi said that the closure of the pig farms in West Java was likely due to low pork consumption. “The non-Muslim population only consumes 87 tons of pork annually,” he said, adding that production reached 1,481 tons annually.

Based on data at the West Java Husbandry Agency, meat demand in the province of 45 million stood at 331,363 tons, divided into various kinds, such as poultry (245,743 tons), beef (80,699 tons), mutton (4,835 tons) and pork (87 tons).

“Since the demand for pork is small, it can be brought in from Central Java, where the production is higher,” said Koesmayadi.

Regarding the ban, West Java councilor Selly Gantina said the councilors had yet to discuss the matter.

“We will also ask for suggestions from the public, because we also know that pork is also a source of protein, especially among non-Muslims,” she added.

Meantime, Batam municipality in Riau Islands will also curb pig and poultry farms on Batam Island as they violate the local spatial planning bylaw, which bans the presence of livestock farms on the major island.

The Batam municipality denied that the closure of pig farms was related with SARA (ethnic, religious , race and groups) issues.

The pig farms can be found in Sambu, Kabil and Batu Besar subdistricts in Batam, operated by 349 families raising 5,743 pigs. The farmers have been warned since April this year and given a deadline until early October to stop operating, failing which the municipality will destroy the animals.

Batam Maritime, Fisheries, Agriculture and Forestry Agency head Suhartini said on Monday that the presence of livestock in Batam violated the local spatial planning plan bylaw, which stipulated that there should not be livestock farms on the main island of Batam.

Local residents have complained about the unbearable stench from pig farms in the area, which are managed traditionally and are far from hygienic.

The farms are to be relocated to other islands, such as Rempang, Galang and the Bulan islands.

“We hope the closure will not be turned into a SARA issue. The closure is purely on the grounds of the environment and zone allocation,” said Suhartini.

A pig farmer in Kabil area, Liston Manurung, said the government should have considered and provided a solution for residents there because they had raised thousands of pigs.