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This is what WHO is up against in Indonesia. The largest bird flu cluster to date occurred in North Sumatra, Medan, Karo regency in Kubu Simbelang village. On May 30 and June 4 emergency shipments of protective equipment with spraying tools, boots, masks and medicines arrived in Medan's Polonia Airport. There were four packages, weighing 265 kilograms.

According to WHO's liaison officer in Medan, Elia Ginting, the four packages are labeled 'protective equipment bio packaging' and were sent via Singapore.

“The equipment was sent after the WHO's laboratory recommendation about bird flu transmission in Karo was issued. It was sent in special stages for bird flu eradication personnel in Karo,” she said.

However, she acknowledged that the import documentation for the packages was not yet completed by WHO at the time of shipment from Singapore.

Meanwhile, according to Jontara Siburian, Head of the Customs Section of the Customs and Excise office at Polonia Airport, told Tempo that Customs and Excise was not going to release all of WHO's goods because it has not received the import documents until now.

“Although they are for emergency purposes, Customs will not release the equipment yet,” he said. (Tempo Interactive)

Yes, get the paperwork done, by all means. But the real truth is the Indonesians don't want to cull birds. We posted on this last September and nothing has changed. A mass killing of birds there is as likely as a mass killing of cats and dogs in the US.

It is easy to wag our fingers at the Indonesians because they won't put their own house in order and they are endangering us. Probably the Columbians feel the same way about the US because we won't stop the drug demand that is fueling the culture of vicious violence in their home country.

The Indonesians are at fault, here. No question.

So are we regarding substance abuse. Next question.