No money to fight Bird Flu

The chairman of Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Gabriel Essilfie and a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hannah Bissiw on Thursday made an urgent appeal to Parliament to intervene in the fight against bird flu in the country since the ministry lacked the necessary funds.

The Bird Flu has so far affected 11 poultry farms in the Greater Accra, Volta and the Ashanti regions.

The chairman of the select committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs made the appeal after making an urgent statement on the outbreak of the bird flu disease on the floor of the House, saying so far 33,143 birds, 1,058 crates of eggs and 37 bags of feed in the three affected regions had been destroyed at the cost of GH¢800,000.

“Mr speaker, I have been reliably informed that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and its Veterinary Services Directorate is currently challenged in mobilising the needed resources to deal with the outbreak since the Ministry did not make any provision for this in its 2015 budget,” he said, stressing that the rate of the outbreak is very alarming and it will need parliament’s intervention.

Members of Parliament (MPs), who contributed to the statement, stressed the urgent need for parliament to intervene by referring the matter to the Finance Committee which has the power to prescribe an amount to be withdrawn from the Contingency Fund for such emergency situations.

The Minority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu was particularly worried that the Ministry could not foresee the possible outbreak when the bird flu disease was reported in Nigeria in January last year.

“We must be serious as a nation when comes to such important matters that border on the health of the people,” he said, adding that Parliament will have to act quickly to avoid any calamity since poultry serves as a source of protein for many Ghanaians.

The Speaker, Edward Doe Ajaho charged the select committee on Food and Agriculture to properly investigate and assess the situation and report back to Parliament on Wednesday, July 7 for the House to take a decision on the matter.