The Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers’ Association will have a meeting in another six weeks with poultry farmers to discuss a $55 million insurance fund.
This was revealed yesterday by president of the Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers Association Carlyle Brathwaite as he gave remarks at a seminar on the avian influenza at the Sherbourne Conference Centre, yesterday morning.
Brathwaite said he was proposing the meeting with poultry farmers “so as to sit down with them and outline the whole project of what I am trying to do. I am trying to create a fund that would have anywhere around $50 to $55 million in it”.
He continued, “When we are finished, it would be there to assist the industry at all times. So, it’s going to have to run for about five to six years to create the money I am speaking of, so that when I am finished, we would have that money to work as an insurance.”
These remarks came as he noted that poultry farmers must be prepared for any disaster, while estimating that a disaster could set back the local poultry industry by some $27 million.
He also added that he does not want poultry farmers or the association to be dependent on Government. Brathwaite also took the time to express concern that there is a situation where farmers are in a “bubble of success”.
Speaking to the Barbados Advocate at the event, he explained that the purpose of the seminar was to discuss the pros and cons of avian influenza, how it can change from being low pathogenic to high pathogenic and how it can become one that will then be transmitted to humans.
“We have to be very careful with it. We have to learn how to treat the process. We also have to be able to manage ourselves during that time as well. We have to have confidence and give persons as much information as possible and in so doing, we can better inform the public. It also teaches us how to control it, what were the errors made by others and what we can learn from those mistakes”.
The BEPPA President also said he was pleased with the high turnout to the seminar, stating that it indicates the seriousness that those in the industry have as it relates to fighting bird flu.
He added that in light of the first seminar, which, according to him, also helped with educating poultry farmers on farm management, standards on farms, to guarantee a better product to consumers, there will be more seminars.
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