RIYADH, 6 April 2008 — Poultry farmers, who suffered huge losses after millions of birds were culled due to bird flu concerns, have asked the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture to reconsider the amount of money they are to be compensated, the daily Al-Riyadh reported yesterday.
A committee comprising representatives of the two ministries, the governor’s office and the mayor of Riyadh announced on Wednesday that they would this week begin distributing SR96 million to farmers in the Riyadh region.
Ayman Al-Rasheed, from Al-Rasheed poultry project, said that the amount of compensation offered was not enough. “The Ministry of Agriculture’s pricing is unfair,” he said.
He added that the ministry has ignored those affected and not taken into consideration the loss suffered by investors.
Abdul Rahman Al-Khateeb, owner of Naam Poultry, said the money being offered only covers 15 percent of his company’s losses. He added that the birds at 27 farms, accounting for more than 50 percent of the Kingdom’s egg production, was completely destroyed.
Al-Khateem said the Ministry of Agriculture had previously pledged to compensate farmers for 80 percent of their losses. The committee is to also compensate bird markets affected by the culling once farms are compensated.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, over 6.16 million chickens and 13,490 ostriches were culled at 27 poultry farms.
Bird flu was first detected at a farm in Al-Kharj in November 2007. The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed more than 200 people worldwide since late 2003, was detected at one location.
