Nonstop Blockade
Poultry sector incurs Tk 256cr losses in 14 days
Country’s poultry industry incurred losses of Tk 256 crore in the last 14 days as the countrywide nonstop blockade being enforced by the BNP-led alliance disrupted supply chain, industry insiders said on Sunday. Bangladesh Poultry Industries Coordination Committee leaders at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital said that investment of Tk 25,000 crore and livelihood of 70 lakh people were now in peril as 25-30 per cent of the eggs and broiler produced in the farms remained unsold daily due to lack of transportation.
They urged the BNP-led alliance to give up violent programmes like blockade and general strike and requested the government to solve the ongoing political crisis and to restore a stable situation in the country.
The BPICC leaders submitted a memorandum to the prime minister describing the sufferings and losses of the sector caused by the political unrest and demanded that the government should resolve the crisis immediately.
The Prime Minister’s Office received the memo on Sunday, said the BPICC leaders.
They tried to submit another memo to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia but failed as the police did not allow them to do so.
‘A total of 8.5 crore eggs, 7,000 tonnes broiler and 99 lakh one-day old chicks remained unsold in the last 14 days and the farm owners incurred losses of Tk 47 crore from eggs, Tk 79 crore from broiler and Tk 35 crore from one-day old chicks,’ said Moshiur Rahman, convener of the BPICC.
The nature of the business of poultry industry is different from that of other sectors and farm owners cannot stop production of eggs at their units on their own will, he said.
Breeders, who are producing one-day old chicks at their farms, have been forced to kill 22 lakh chicks a week as the marketing is being hampered due to lack of transportation, Moshiur said.
He said that the industry had suffered losses of Tk 4,000 crore due to strike and blockade in the year 2013.
‘Unfortunately, only 14 months after the unrest, the opposition political parties once again enforced same type of programme that is hampering normal life and caused losses of Tk 256 crore in the poultry sector in the last 14 days,’ Moshiur said.
‘If we count all the local strikes, blockades and violent movements, the total losses would be around Tk 4,500 crore in the last 15 months,’ he said.
Fazle Rahim Khan, president of the Breeders’ Association of Bangladesh, said that the poultry farm owners were losing their investment daily.
He urged all the political parties to keep vehicles carrying eggs, broiler, day-old chicks, feed, vaccine and other raw materials for the sector out of the purview of any sort of strikes, blockades and other political programmes.
Monsur Hossain, general secretary of the Feed Industries Association Bangladesh, said the demand for poultry feed in the last 14 days was around 91, 000 tonnes. The feed industry incurred losses of Tk 73 crore in the period.
The BPICC leaders demanded incentives for the poultry sector.
-With New Age input
