Yeka noted that the Quarantine Agency should have anticipated them through its work unit Center for Animal Quarantine and Animal Biosafety and network of technical implementation unit (UPTs) tasked with guarding their respective borders in each province as well as sea ports and airports.
“Even though the annual budget for the Quarantine Agency is around Rp1 trillion. Instead of strengthening biosecurity defense, many local governments abolished their animal husbandry service and do not have veterinary specialists,” Yeka explained.
In addition, Ombudsman RI also found that the handling was slow, resulting in rapid animal to animal transmission. Even though evidence of the FMD outbreak has been officially announced since May 6, the official announcement of a spread to goats was only made on June 10.