Poultry sellers disagree with compensation proposal

Leong Meng Lap

The fourth round of talks between employers in the poultry sector and the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), took place yesterday at the IACM headquarters. The meeting ended up stoking the anger of the poultry vendors, as IACM maintained its original financial support proposal.

Yesterday, IACM had a meeting with the employers to discuss the consequences of the region’s permanent ban on the sale of live poultry. The discussion focused particularly on the compensation proposed by IACM to the live poultry sellers.

Leong Meng Lap, chairman of the Macau Live Poultry Vendors Association, instead of talking to the media regarding the details of the meeting, heavily condemned the media for not publishing “the voice of the vendors.”

Leong accused a local TV station for only reporting on the government’s side while overlooking the vendors.

“How can the government manipulate the journalism sector?” questioned Leong, adding “how can it be like this? I feel so disappointed. Don’t you feel shameful?”

A seller, surnamed Chow, noted that Hong Kong recently allowed live poultry sales in the city. He believes that the local government can learn from the Hong Kong example, and let local vendors restart their live poultry businesses.

According to Chow, IACM maintained its stance by offering financial subsidies ranging from MOP240,000 to MOP480,000.

The proposal triggered the fury of the meeting’s participants, with many of them leaving the room speaking loudly while expressing their dissatisfaction towards IACM.

IACM Chairman José Tavares noted that the bureau has a plan which involves MOP41 million to support the live poultry sector.

“They have expressed their understanding and their opinions, we have heard them, but we [IACM and the live poultry sellers] have been talking about two different things since the beginning,” said  Tavares.

The IACM chairman explained that the employers are talking about “a compensation” while IACM is addressing “a financial support.”

Tavares confirmed that the government will not allow live poultry sales anymore, unless a scientific breakthrough can show a better way of preventing flu breakouts without resorting to the full ban of live poultry sales.

Tavares also pointed out that Hong Kong cannot be used for comparison regarding live poultry sales conditions in Macau.

The IACM chairman announced that by the end of June, the bureau will retake the vendor spots of the involved sellers. Whether these vendors have replied to the IACM’s financial support plan or not, the government will retake their shops.

IACM will assist the vendors in altering their businesses if they are willing to run a vendor shop at their current shop, otherwise the government will take the shops.

This meeting marks the last of its kind between the two sides. No changes will be made over to financial support offered, Tavares said.