According to figures provided by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), the government has paid about MOP 3.91 million in compensation to suppliers affected by bird flu outbreaks since 2014, Central District Social Services Consultative Committee Deputy Convenor Un Sio Leng said on Wednesday.
Un made the remarks after a regular closed-door meeting of the committee with officials of the bureau at the Central District Residents Service Centre. The meeting was closed to the media.
Un said the officials told the committee that the government had to carry out seven poultry culls due to bird flu outbreaks since 2014, adding that a total of 89,496 chickens were culled.
“Many members agree that it’s suitable to replace live with chilled poultry in the city’s wet markets now,” Un said.
However, according to Un, some members pointed out that many residents are used to buying freshly slaughtered poultry, urging the bureau to strengthen promotion about the possible replacement.
Un also said some members were concerned about how to keep the chilled poultry in good condition during transportation.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters after the meeting, IACM Administrative Committee member Ung Sau Hong, who also attended the meeting, said the government had not yet come up with a timetable for resuming the sale of live poultry.
The city’s live poultry sales have been suspended since the government announced on January 26 that all sales of live poultry would be stopped for at least three days from that day after discovering the H7 strain of the avian influenza virus (AIV) in a chicken sample at the Nam Yue Wholesale Market.
Some senior officials have said that the government was “seriously considering” the possibility of replacing live with chilled poultry to avoid an outbreak of bird flu in Macau.
All live poultry on sale in Macau has traditionally been imported from the mainland.
(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
