The Poultry Farmers Association in the Western Region has appealed to the government, through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, to honour the payment of compensation arrears due poultry farmers who were at the receiving end of the outbreak of the Influenza disease, known as ‘Bird Flu’, in the country last year.
According to the Association, since the outbreak was a health risk issue, payment of compensation to the poultry farmers whose birds, eggs, and feeds were destroyed ought to have happened a long time ago.
It would be recalled that, 12 regions, including Western, Western North, Bono, Bono East, and Central, recorded the Influenza virus leading to the slaughtering of birds, destruction of eggs and feeds last year.
The slaughtering exercise, which was undertaken by the Emergency Response Team, under the Veterinary Services, was measures to help curtail the spread of the virus. Ghana announced the outbreak of the virus in 2021, and the Western Region alone saw the destruction of 16,728 birds from seven farms in 2022.
In the Western North, 21,049 birds from five farms were destroyed. In the case of the Central Region, 99, 744 birds from twenty-four farms were killed.
Following the non-payment of compensation to the poultry farmers, the Effia-Kwesimintsim Chairman of the Poultry Farmers Association, Ambassador Kofi Dossah, has sent a word of caution to the government to, as a matter of urgency, pay the compensation arrears.
Giving the background on how their birds were slaughtered, Ambassador Kofi Dossah told this reporter that following the outbreak of the virus, poultry farmers voluntarily took their birds, eggs and feeds for examination at the Veterinary office.
He explained that when the examination turned positive, the birds, feeds and eggs were destroyed. Ambassador Kofi Dossah told this reporter that he personally lost 1,286 crates of eggs and 2,756 birds due to the outbreak. Others, he said, lost more than 6,000 birds.
He explained to this reporter that as a measure to control the spread of the virus, the Emergency Response Team under the Veterinary Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, took stock of the number of birds, feed and eggs due a poultry farmer that were destroyed.
But, to date, Ambassador Kofi Dossah told this reporter, non of the 2022 poultry farmers who were victims of the virus outbreak had received compensation from the government.
He said the government owed the poultry farmers in the region in excess of GH¢789, 565 as compensation for the birds, feeds and eggs destroyed in 2022.
Several letters written to the Ministry to remind the government of the compensation arrears, according to the Effia-Kwesimintsim Poultry Farmers Chairman, appears to have fallen on deaf ears, though he admitted that some farmers who were victims of the outbreak in 2021 had received their compensations.
Giving a background, he said the government at the time of the outbreak offered to pay GH¢80.00 for a bag of feed, though a bag at that time was selling at GH¢155.00.
Now a bag of feed, he told this reporter, was selling at GH¢400.00. “What it means is that you will have to sell six bags of feed at that time to buy GH¢400.00 bag of feed now.”
With the hide and seek attitude the government has adopted in paying the compensation, Ambassador Kofi Dossah warned that, it could spell doom for the country in the likely event of another outbreak of the Influenza.
