Poultry farm owners demand uninterrupted transportation

Poultry farm owners on Thursday staged a unique protest here – giving away nearly 25,000 day-old chicks to bystanders – demanding that the transportation and supply of poultry-related products like meat, feed, medicine, chicks, eggs and machineries be left out of the purview of political programmes. Owners, workers and experts under six influential associations of the poultry sector joined the programme under the platform of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Coordination Committee (BIPPC) besides forming a joint human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club.   They also condemned the government for its inaction to prevent the losses caused by political programmes.   They put forward a 10-point demand to the government that include interest-free loan with a minimum two-year term for the small and grassroots farmers, cash incentives and rescheduling of loans.   Addressing the human chain, BPICC convener Moshiur Rahman said some 36,000 poultry farms have already been closed due to the political turmoil which has almost paralysed the country’s transportation system.   He said about 15,000 tonnes of broiler chickens and 3.15 crore pieces of eggs were wasted per week amid the spate of general strikes and blockades.   Saidur Rahman Babu, general secretary of the Breeders Association of Bangladesh (BAB), said: “The other industries can stop production if the situation demands but you can’t stop production of living birds, hens lying eggs, cant’ keep the chicks starving.”   He said: “We’re counting a loss of 30-40 percent of the production cost every day. The breeders destroyed around 3 million day-old chicks every week amid the scarcity of feed caused by transport disruption.”   Fazle Rahim Khan Shahriar, secretary of the Feed Industries Association Bangladesh (FIAB), said the poultry feed industry has incurred losses of around Tk 10 billion in the last three months.  “Forty-seven vehicles carrying feed, chicken and day-old chicks were torched or vandalised severely during hartals-blockades,” he said.   He also pointed out that the truck fare which was Tk 18000-20,000 before political turmoil now had risen to Tk 1 lakh for some time during blockade.   Dr M Nazrul Islam, General Secretary of the Animal Health Companies Association of Bangladesh (AHCAB), said medicines worth Tk.15 crore remained unsold every week during the blockade compared to the normal sales.   However, BPICC on December 11 last submitted memoranda to the chiefs of three major political parties – Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jatiya Party — seeking a peaceful environment for keeping the supply chain of poultry and other related products uninterrupted across the country. – UNB