PENANG: African swine fever (AFS) is no longer a state-level disaster in Penang.

The Penang Disaster Management Committee has declared that AFS is no longer a crisis in a meeting held on June 7, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) Chan Foong Hin.

In a statement, Chan said Penang had not detected any new AFS case since the mass culling of pigs was completed on March 15.

“Together with the Penang veterinary department, I visited the Penang Chief Minister on June 19 to discuss rebuilding the state’s pig farming industry,” he said.

Currently, there are a total of 103 pig farms operating in Penang, rearing 24,004 pigs for 100% of the state’s pork supply, he said.

However, there are 83 farms unable to acquire operating licences as they have been slapped with suspension or shutdown orders.

“The state veterinary department will continue to inspect 62 farms which have failed to acquire operating licences to ensure that corrective measures have been implemented,” he said.

Since the closed-end system for pig farming was introduced seven years ago, there remains a small number of farmers who still have not converted their farms as per the Penang Pig Farming Enactment 2016.

Closed-end pig farming system has its purpose and effectiveness, said Chan, adding that the North Seberang Perai district has the fewest AFS cases although it is home to the biggest number of pig farms in the state.

“This is because 90% of pig farms in North Seberang Perai have converted to closed-end farming,” he explained.

Chan urged the other pig farms to take appropriate actions to meet the requirements set so that they can resume their operations soon.