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Drive against toxic poultry, fish feed

Khalilur Rahman

Leaders of the Bangladesh Poultry Breeders Association have urged the government to shut down about two dozen factories at Hazaribagh and its adjoining areas in the city producing poultry and fish feed out of tannery wastes for quite a long time. Mr. Moshiur Rahman, Convenor of National Poultry Coordination Committee told journalists four days ago that they are trying to draw the attention of the concerned authorities to take action against these factories which are churning out toxic feed for about a year.

Upon a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) writ petition filed by an HR organization, a High Court Bench on Monday last directed the government to close down for a period of three months those factories at Hazaribagh using raw tannery waste as ingredient in producing poultry and fish feed. The HC issued a rule upon the government to submit explanation within three weeks as to why it should not be directed to take effective steps to stop use of tannery waste in poultry and fish feed. The court also directed the government to form a high-powered committee within 15 days to monitor production of poultry and fish feed in different districts including Dhaka and formulate a policy to stop use of tannery waste in poultry and fish feed.

It is utterly surprising as well as shocking to learn how these unauthorized factories at Hazaribagh could continue production of toxic poultry and fish feed for such a long period of time under the very nose of the administration. We have reasons to believe that this toxic feed has already entered the food chain exposing public to serious health hazards. A sizeable number of our population including children and the sick consume chickens, eggs and fish in the absence of adequate supply of fresh milk. The people, consuming such toxic products through fish and poultry, may suffer from intractable diseases affecting their vital organs, even cancer.

According to a newspaper report, use of tannery waste for making fish and poultry feed began about a decade ago when the price of protein imported for preparation of poultry and fish feed registered rise. Since then the price of imported protein showed steep increase which continues till now. The tannery waste used as an ingredient for producing poultry and fish feed has high concentration of chromium which, if consumed, can cause serious liver and kidney diseases. The concerned government agencies should not have any excuse about detection of this Hazaribagh factories on the ground of information gap. This unholy practice has been widely publicized in media, both print and electronic, with photographs of factories in full operation. Their failure to eradicate this menace and bring the culprits to book is unpardonable. Why had the people to wait so long for the landmark ruling of the country's apex court for suspension of production of toxic feed? The government agencies are run out of public money and they have specific tasks to perform for the welfare and physical wellbeing of the taxpayers.

The poultry and fish sector has vast prospect for employment generation and economic progress of the country. The leaders of breeders association told journalists that despite prevalence of bird flu, price escalation of raw materials, manipulation of market by neighbouring country and above all lack of government patronization they have made progress in developing this sector. Mr. Moshiur Rahman expressed the hope that this sector alone would create job opportunity for about 10 million people within next five to seven years. The proliferation of poultry and fish farms is indeed welcome. But it should be kept above all sorts of malpractices which may pose direct threat to public health. In doing so the government machinery must act forthwith in strict conformity with the HC ruling.

Let us hope for the best.

(The writer is Consultant Editor of the FE. He can be reached at e-mail: khalilbdh@gmail.com)