Poultry processor suspends production

Buxom Poultry last week suspended production, saying it cannot possibly compete in the present post-EU accession scenario, the company said yesterday.

The poultry processing company charged the government with ignoring it pleas and going back on its pre-accession promises.

Since accession, the whole industry has seen a decrease in production of some 40 per cent and a corresponding fall in revenue, it said. Despite this, and despite repeated calls by the company for help, the government had failed to make use of the safeguard clause negotiated before accession aimed at helping industries in difficulty.

The company had invested about Lm800,000 before accession on the premise of guarantees given by the government then that the industry would be protected.

Contacted for comments, the company's managing director, Edward Borg, said he even had a meeting with the Prime Minister two months ago, making concrete proposals.

"Nobody came back to me," he said.

When contacted for his reaction, a spokesman for the Environment Ministry said that, in this particular case, the government had made funds available amounting to as much as Lm50,000 for 2005.

However, this money could not be issued in view of the fact that about 16 garnishee orders had been issued against the company, the spokesman said.

He preferred not to elaborate, only adding that yesterday a court issued yet another garnishee order for Lm9,000 against the company.

On this point, Mr Borg had said he was not happy with such credit situations but he did not have much alternative given the losses.