JEDDAH, 9 April 2006 — Prohibition of live chicken sales within city limits across Jeddah and other cities is to be enforced soon.

“There’s already a government directive to prohibit live chicken sales in a bid to ensure the safety of consumers. What we’re doing is the enforcement of the decision from Rajab (July 26),” a source at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said yesterday.

The decision comes in the wake of repeated warnings to chicken shops over the last few years against their slaughtering operation within the city limits.

“They’re being advised to deal in frozen chicken instead,” the source added.

Inquiries show that officials at the Makkah and Jeddah municipalities are serious about closing down the shops that do not comply with the decision.

“We’re closing down the shops (poultry) that exist in Jeddah from Rajab (July 26),” said Jaber Ashahri of the ministry’s Makkah office.

“Most of the shops are slaughtering chickens in the most unhygienic way. In the process, there is stench all around with feathers flying everywhere,” he said. “That’s why we’re designating special areas for them for the purpose of slaughtering. There’re also health violations on the part of workers, as they don’t seem to follow health norms while slaughtering chicken. And their negligence could result in the spread of diseases.”

Consumers have welcomed the ministry’s decision, especially in the context of the reappearance of bird flu in some parts of the world.

“I love fresh chicken but now I’m forced to have frozen chicken,” said Egyptian consumer Mustafa Sami.

A market survey shows that the business of live chicken has suffered a tremendous setback as consumers are avoiding the purchase of live chicken and instead depending more on frozen chicken.

“Our live chicken sales have gone down by more than 50 percent,” said Abdullah Al-Marwani, owner of a shop on Jeddah’s Palestine Street. “We’ve seen a public apathy toward buying live chicken. What’s more we’re also being prohibited from slaughtering the birds within the city,” he added. This has prompted many shops to close down or change the line of business.

Market leaders said they had heard of moves to restrict the slaughtering of chicken to big establishments that had hygienic facilities with modern technology and those who followed health standards for their workers.