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| SJB MP and economist Kabir Hashim at the media briefing yesterday |
By Darshana Abayasingha
Main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarian Kabir Hashim yesterday questioned if Minister of Trade, Nalin Fernando, represented Sri Lankan interests or those of India, for not taking action to promote domestic poultry industry.
The main opposition MP stated the Government has destroyed the domestic poultry industry with its short-sighted policies, and the country and industry will have a heavy price to pay for the sake of cronies.
Pointing to comments by the Trade Minister who had obtained approval to import chicken meat, Hashim said the Government imposes a tax of Rs. 254 on a kilogramme of chicken produced in Sri Lanka, and posed a question to the minister if this same tax is applicable for imports.
“Today, the price of a kilogramme of chicken produced in Sri Lanka is Rs. 1,290. With a retail margin of Rs. 203 per kilogramme the farmer only receives Rs. 833 per kilo. A kilogramme of imported chicken costs on average USD 2, or Rs. 700. When the retail margin is added, then the price should be Rs. 1,157 if the tax is not applicable. Are we destroying the local poultry industry and the livelihoods of thousands of Sri Lankans for a mere Rs. 113 per kilogramme of chicken,” Hashim questioned.
The MP noted that chicken and egg production in Sri Lanka had dropped drastically this year due to the lack of chicken-feed due to short-sighted policies. He noted the Government is now busy handing out licenses to parties to import corn in an attempt to boost animal-feed, and questioned the rationale behind the issuing of such licences.
“The Government was saying it must get out of business, but instead we see them busily handing out licenses for imports. Why can’t we allow farmers and markets to grow and import corn as they see fit? Why must the Government be involved in this process? Such policies are destroying livelihoods and are likely lining the pockets of a favoured few,” the SJB MP said.
Hashim noted the Minister of Agriculture has recently intimated the country will receive expertise from two Indian companies to grow the poultry industry, whilst chicken meat will also be imported from India. He remarked that Sri Lanka has one of the most advanced poultry industries in the region with a sophisticated storage and distribution facility, and it was unfathomable that such an advanced industry must now seek foreign support within the space of just one year.
In the past Sri Lanka produced 8 million eggs a day, which has now dropped to 3.5 million daily. Price controls have exacerbated the issue as farmers cannot recover costs and egg production has crashed further. In 2001, Sri Lanka produced 2.9 billion eggs, which dropped to 2.08 billion in 2022. This year the annual production is estimated to drop to 1.8 billion. Sri Lanka last imported eggs in 2012. Sri Lanka produced 228,000 metric tonnes of chicken meat annually, and is reputed as a world class producer that even did exports. At Rs. 254 a kilogramme for locally produced chicken, the Government earned Rs. 4.8 billion monthly from the industry before the drop. In 2021, Sri Lanka exported 718 metric tonnes of chicken and the figure rose to 1804 metric tonnes in 2022.
“This is the industry that we have successfully destroyed due to ill-conceived policy. This year we are importing chickens and eggs, mostly from India. Is he (the minister) representing India or Sri Lanka? Over 50,000 farms are impacted and hundreds of thousands of livelihoods, and we hope the state will take the right steps to correct this situation,” the SJB MP said.
Hashim noted that Singapore imports chicken from Brazil which consumes a great deal of time and freight. Sri Lanka could export chicken to Singapore within a day, but this opportunity was thwarted when the then Government of 2018 was prevented from entering a trade deal with Singapore.
