Consumers at the mercy of chicken cartel

THE EDITOR: We commend your Sunday newspaper of a report made by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture who with the Grace of God has exposed the atrocities committed by owners of chicken companies during the past fourteen years. At last, injustice and cruelty are now in the past. On behalf of hundreds of thousands of consumers and the entire nation at large, we thank God for empowering the Government with wisdom to take a responsible humanitarian position to finally deal with the eradication of monopoly and cartel-control in the chicken industry. This move has now ended artificial supplies and price fixing that were forced down the throats of every household in Trinidad and Tobago. We also welcome its initiative to reduce the price of chickens that will now be made affordable to the entire nation especially now to poor consumers.

For too long, present and former employees, farmers and consumers have experienced massive injustices by the hands of this chicken cartel. They have accumulated its millions and millions of dollars to gain massive wealth. We also call on owners of these same chicken companies and not their agents or representatives, to visit homes of several hundred ex-employees, farmers and their children and families to get a first hand look on how these people now live as a result of the injustices that were done to them. As if lives still do not matter, these same chicken owners and their top executives will simply sit in their offices and make decisions not caring who they affect or whose lives will be destroyed. In addition and most disturbingly, the report made by the Minister of Agriculture in Parliament that these producers make their money with the use of child labour is most horrible.

This is a serious matter that has been deemed a universal crime that corporate wrong doers are severely punished. Our only concern now is that we must become more responsible and learn from our weakness and shortfall. Together with authorities, we must properly re-examine these conglomerates as the Minister had described, to ensure that they will not be permitted to resurface in this manner ever again. Imagine these producers made themselves into an unfair and indiscriminate position to serve a selected few in our population since they did not even care to serve even poor consumers as far as exorbitant high prices.

The blame on the rise of raw materials that is causing high prices still cannot be justified. This was total madness given that chicken has always been a very basic food item for the last hundred years to every household. It is important to note that these owners of chicken companies have only been in existence for not more than 15 years. Can this be described as the ill effects of a hidden agenda of contemporary corporate industry take over? Finally, we must never surrender to a few who are destined to destroy our most valuable treasure of all; our children and future leaders of tomorrow in our blessed and lovely nation.

R RAGOOBARSINGH
Valsayn