NANTA: FARM’S CLOSURE WON’T CAUSE CHICKEN SHORTAGE
Company claimed its birds underweight for market, says minister
THE supply of chicken in the country will not be disrupted despite the impending two-day closure of a chicken farm in Jasin, Melaka, this weekend.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said the company that ran the chicken farm had explained the matter to the ministry in a letter.
“Their explanation does not appear to indicate there is a cartel behind it with the intention to profiteer.
“They have also made it clear that their closure was not to undermine the government, the industry, or done with bad intentions.
“The company wanted to temporarily close the chicken farm because there was delayed growth of its chickens, which was recorded at 1.1kg per chicken instead of the average selling weight of 1.8kg.
“As the weight of the chickens has not reached the standard of 1.8kg and are too small to be sold to the consumer market, they want to refrain from selling it as it would pose a problem.
“This move is also to protect the company’s reputation,” he said after launching the controlled and subsidised items logos yesterday.
Nanta said only one company was involved, and it might have had problems with the quality of chicken feed, which led to the delayed growth of its chickens.
He said a special task force from the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) was investigating issues in the chicken industry, under Section 4 of the Competition Act 2020.
“The in-depth probe will take a little more time to complete.
“The results will then be presented to me and the government.
“Hopefully, by July, there will be a conclusion which will also recommend measures to overcome the problems.
“It will also be shared with the public,” he said.
He said as the issue of chickens became a hot topic during festival periods, the government, through the National Action Council on Cost of Living, had on Feb 1 this year, ordered MyCC to form the task force.
The Federation of Livestock Farmers Associations of Malaysia had denied allegations that a group of chicken breeders were planning to shut operations to protest against the government’s delay in subsiding chicken prices.
Bernama reported the association’s adviser, Datuk Jeffrey Ng, as saying such action, if true, was an individual move and breeders had to bear the risks themselves.
Ng had said it was common among any company or poultry producer in the country to close operations according to their needs, adding that the association never advised its members to stop operations unless there were reasons such as lack of employees or due to other company issues.
Nanta said the ministry would deploy enforcement teams to investigate claims of chicken sellers charging extra to cut up whole chicken at wet markets in Johor Baru.
He said the ministry was aware of complaints about sellers charging an extra RM1.10 per kg to break down a bird even though such matters were not part of the ministry’s price control scheme.
“If the service charge is justified, we can accept but if it is over RM1 per kilogramme, then that is too high for consumers. If it is for a whole bird, that is acceptable.
“At the same time, we also want to ensure that the price of chicken is not higher than what we had set at RM8.90 per kilogramme.
“We will monitor the situation to ensure no one profiteers. We urge consumers to make smart choices when it comes to such service charges,” he said.
The NSTP had reported that although the price of chicken at the Kempas wet market was RM8.90 per kg as set by the government, there was an accompanying sign stating that RM1.10 per kg would be charged to cut up the bird.
This had caught consumers by surprise.