Chicken farms blast government ‘indifference’

THE Cyprus Poultry Association has accused the government of “indifference” towards the plight of chicken farmers after the Agriculture Minister again rejected their request for a temporary suspension of the social security payments and income tax payments of chicken farmers.

Chicken and egg sales are about 50 per cent lower than usual with bird flu fears still strong among the public.

Agriculture Minister Timis Efthymiou has repeatedly said that the European Union does not permit the government to buoy and aid industries.

But Cyprus Poultry Association president Savvas Papaefstathiou said yesterday at a presentation at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEVE) that this was merely an “excuse”, adding that Efthymiou is merely “throwing the ball to Europe” to avoid aiding the ailing group.

To disprove Efthymiou’s claim, Papaefstathiou compiled documents from three other European countries – Greece, Italy and France – that have officially announced and granted aid packages to farmers.

But Papaefstathiou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that when Efthymiou was presented with the documents, he simply denied that they were true, despite the fact that they were issued from the various nations’ Agriculture Ministries.

At the end of February, the Cyprus Poultry Association conducted a study that found that chicken farmers in Cyprus had suffered between £4.5 to 5 million pounds in damages.

The association has not asked the government for compensation but for a suspension of their social security payments until the end of 2006 and a suspension of income tax, although they have not yet specified a time frame for the suspension.

According to the association, a number of smaller-scale chicken farms have been forced to shut down, while the sales of those farms that remained in production have dropped by 50 per cent.

Chicken and egg sales should increase at the end of the Lenten fasting period but chicken farmers anticipate continuing hard times ahead due to lingering bird flu fears.

Papaefstathiou entreated the journalists gathered at the meeting to “convince the public to come back to chicken” since there had been a “mistake” in the way the issue of bird flu had been presented, thereby creating an “unjustifiable panic” about chicken and egg consumption.

Joining Papaefstathiou at the presentation was Cyprus Poultry Association Vice President Petros Mintikkis, Secretary Marios Tsiakkis, and Board members George Mourouzis and Pavlos Paradisiotis.
Tsiakkis emphasised that chicken farmers are dealing with “live creatures that require warmth and food” and so crises in these sectors are especially critical, necessitating attention.

The Cyprus Poultry Association called on consumers in Cyprus to “return with trust to their daily diet of chicken meat and other poultry products” and reminded the public that doctors advise chicken and other white meats over red meats to ward off heart attacks and high cholesterol levels.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.