BAS CEO argues that importing poultry unnecessary Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

Chief executive officer of the Barbados Agriculture Society (BAS) James Paul is advocating for the discontinuation of imported chicken to Barbados.

During the BAS Annual General Assembly at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Saturday, October 29, Paul revealed that Barbados is well on its way to producing 10 million birds by year-end – this a clear indicator that the industry has enough to supply the local market.

there is absolutely no need to import chicken wings to supplement the local requirement of poultry

“In the case of the poultry industry this year, we basically have produced so far 7.3 million birds this year. We are hoping that by the end of the normal calendar year, we are hoping to have 10 million birds and I think we should be able to get that done.”

“It demonstrates that the industry has the capacity to adequately supply the local market. And I want to say this, there is absolutely no need to import chicken wings to supplement the local requirement of poultry.”

He argued that years ago, Barbados did not import any chicken wings, and high levels of production were recording during this period.

“However, it seems that the importers are able to convince our policy makers into believing that the importation of chicken wings is necessary. What has not been pointed out is the fact that Barbados at a point in time did not import chicken wings and no one missed it! There had a period where over years where we did not import any chicken wings in this country! Nobody missed it!”

He further argued: “And in those periods the industry saw record levels of production and even went to the 11 million bird mark. We think we can do it again if we get co-operation.”

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