THE Penang Development Corporation (PDC) is working with the Penang Veterinary Services Department (JPV) to ensure pig carcasses from pig farms hit by the African swine fever (ASF) are properly buried, and away from residential areas.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the pig carcasses were buried on-site for farms which have space, and off-site for small farms which lack space.
“Efforts have been made to minimise the impact on any party. We are looking at landbanks owned by PDC which are still not ready to be sold to the industries, to be used for the off-site burial.
“We need to find land to bury the carcasses whether we want it or not. Some pig farms are too small to conduct on-site burial,” he replied to a journalist today.
Chow hoped that the people would understand that the state was doing its best to overcome a ‘disaster’ while mitigating its impact on the people.
He added that the ASF has slightly impacted the pig farming industry after 11 pig farms in the state were hit by the pig viral disease.
“We are still above the self-sufficiency level although 11 pig farms have been hit by ASF at this moment,” he said.
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, the ASF has become a major crisis for the pork industry in recent years and is affecting several regions around the world. It is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, and the mortality rate can reach 100%.
It is, however, not a danger to human health, but it has a devastating impact on the pig population and the farming industry. There is currently no effective vaccine against ASF.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Siew Chia En
Video by Ahmad Adil Muhamad