AVIAN INFLUENZA - INDONESIA ATTEMPTS TO REORIENT TANGERANG

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000068 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, G/AIAG AND OES USAID FOR ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL DEPT ALSO PASS TO HHS/WSTEIGER/ABHAT/MSTLOUIS AND HHS/NIH GENEVA FOR WHO/HOHMAN USDA/FAS/OSTA BRANT, ROSENBLUM USDA/APHIS ANNELLI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO AMED CASC EAGR AMGT PGOV ID SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA - INDONESIA ATTEMPTS TO REORIENT TANGERANG PROJECT ¶1. (SBU) Summary. The Tangerang Trilateral Project reveals Indonesia's overall challenge in combating avian influenza (AI) - a lack of an integrated approach among government ministries and regional and district governments. Increased public scrutiny and heightened government interest offers a new opportunity to turn the project around. In an effort to invigorate it, Nyoman Kandun, Director General of Communicable Diseases and Environmental Health at the Ministry of Health (MOH),convened a three-day interagency meeting commencing January 7 to review sector action plans and integrate activities into a coordinated implementation plan. The meeting follows a series of internal Government of Indonesia (GOI) meetings in December that recommended stronger coordination for the project, following the occurrence of seven human cases of AI in the Tangerang area since August 2007. The Government of Singapore shares our concern and is working closely with us to improve the management and technical capability of the project. A successfully implemented project could yield solutions that stakeholders can apply more broadly in other districts in Indonesia. End Summary. Improving Financial Situation in 2008 -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Tangerang Trilateral Project, launched in 2005 and named for the suburb of Jakarta which experienced the first human AI case, has been slow to deliver results due to a lack of GOI interagency focus. At a June 5, 2007 technical meeting, the Tangerang Secretariat developed an ambitious work plan for the remainder of 2007, but lack of funding prevented full implementation. Although the GOI initially planned a 2007 Tangerang budget of 20 billion rupiah ($2.21 million),it ended up devoting very little funding towards Tangerang, using the money instead for the National Poverty Alleviation Program. ¶3. (SBU) The Ministry of Health (MOH) Center for Disease Control (CDC) requested Rp 15 billion ($1.59 million) for general health issues for Tangerang in 2008. According to our sources, the GOI has already released Rp 5 billion ($0.53 million) of this 2008 funding. Participants in the January 7-9 meeting in Tangerang are working out the allocation of the funds. Sufficient GOI, US and Singapore financial support therefore seems to be in place to move the project forward in 2008. New Focus on Integrated Work Plan -------------- ¶4. (U) Seven new AI cases have surfaced in Tangerang since August 2007 and public awareness has prompted the GOI to revamp its efforts on Tangerang. The GOI has conducted interagency coordination meetings and requested that all agencies develop sector action plans to incorporate into an integrated project work plan for review at the January 7-9 meeting. The meeting will merge four separate action plans from the Project Secretariat, Banten Province, Tangerang District and Tangerang Municipality in order to break down stove pipes, create real-time data sharing, and promote cross-sector coordination of pilot project activities. Over 30 participants from central, regional and district authorities for both human and animal health are participating in the meeting. Singaporean Perspective -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In 2007, Singapore provided $600,000 of in-kind assistance including vehicles, equipment, supplies for the project. In late 2007, Singapore also released $200,000 to support project operations. However, project vehicles, equipment and supplies purchased through Government of Singapore funding languished in a warehouse while waiting for GOI approval to accept the international assistance. Singapore has made the release of additional funding contingent on the project meeting specified milestones and timelines based on a work plan that Singapore asked the project to submit by January 31, 2008. ¶6. (SBU) According to Singaporean Embassy contacts, the Singapore JAKARTA 00000068 002 OF 002 government will not pull out of the Tangerang project for political and public relations reasons. Their experts believe that the GOI is technically capable of implementing a work plan but will only do so under continued pressure. USG Contributions to the Trilateral Project -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The REDI Center, a joint US/Singapore-sponsored organization based in Singapore, currently channels direct USG funding for the Tangerang Trilateral Project from DHHS ($400,000) and USDA ($200,000). These funds are supporting the activities of the Pilot Project Secretariat. Direct USG funding of the project started in June 2007, and to date the REDI Center has allocated approximately $50,000. There is also substantial in-kind support of AI surveillance and control operations for the project through USAID. The 2008 GOI funding will support local costs of the project operations. AI Still an Agricultural Problem...For Now -------------- ¶8. (SBU) AI is primarily an agricultural problem, and the issues in Indonesia will show little progress until there is a concerted, comprehensive long-range program to deal with it. The Tangerang Pilot Project could be helpful in demonstrating how to mount such a comprehensive agricultural control program in the Indonesian setting. The GOI's active project management and DG Kandun's engagement over the past two months demonstrate significant improvement and raise expectations that the project's implementation may be finally turning the corner. If the government can be successful in controlling AI in Tangerang, it (and the international community) can apply valuable lessons learned in other districts. However, even if Tangerang were to eradicate AI in poultry, it would be impossible to keep the district AI-free when it is susceptible to reintroduction from other AI affected areas in Indonesia, unless there are basic changes in the way Indonesians rear, market and process poultry nationwide. Sporadic human cases will continue to occur as long as AI remains entrenched in poultry, no matter how big the investment on the health side. The response of the Ministry of Agriculture and local animal health authorities to controlling AI has been woefully inadequate because they lack the capacity, resources, and leadership to mount the kind of program that the solution needs. We will not see progress until GOI stakeholders address the basic agricultural problem. HUME