The Poultry Association of Ghana has said the Ministry of Agriculture’s decision to place a ban on live birds will adversely affect its business.
The Ministry of Agriculture has placed a ban on the sale of live birds following the outbreak of the Avian Influenza flu in the country.
[contextly_sidebar id=”E56IXTI5cnbw7IPmYjXSoK4Uwk6zih0K”]The Association however believes the new directive will have dire implications on their service delivery.
“This will have implications in so many ways. Farmers do not allow people to troop into the farms so we serve the birds to few people and they will go and sell to the public so this will mean that even if you want to sell birds you have to allow everybody to come to the farm which is not a good practice,” the President of the Poultry Association, Oppong Adjei explained.
“This news has come to as a surprise because we are not aware of the statement,” he added.
The Veterinary Services indicated that its decision was influenced by a recent outbreaks in Greater Accra Region which was linked to street vendors.
However speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Adjei was dismissive of the report saying, the Association has never sold “sick birds” to its vendors.
“To the best of my knowledge I know that any bird contracted with bird flu, you cannot even handle it so we don’t sell sick birds to the public because if the bird is contracted with bird flu the appearance and everything is quite different and you cannot take it sell so we always give those vendords good birds. To the best of my knowledge I know we are giving them good birds which has not contracted any disease.”
He therefore stated that the Association will have to meet with the Veterinary Association to find a better alternative to its suggestion.
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline,com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah