Chicken men cry foul

IT SEEMS that in reacting emotionally to increases in the price of chicken, Legal Affairs Minister Camille Robinson-Regis has placed the cart before the horse. Without getting all the facts, the Minister has made the drastic call to consumers to boycott the purchase of chicken, certainly the most popular source of protein among TT's population. Sections of the poultry industry responded with apparent alarm, pointing out that the Government, in fact, was to blame for the recent increase in chicken prices. However, when Newsday attempted to contact Robinson-Regis at her office on Wednesday, we were informed by her Secretary that she had requested a complete report from the Consumer Affairs Division and would make a statement shortly after receiving it.

It would seem to us that the Minister should have asked for such a report first before launching what has been described as a "vicious attack" on a major poultry producer and urging the nation to stop eating its favourite meat. If what Nutrimix Feeds Limited is saying is true, then the industry seems justified in their recent price increases. In fact, Nutrimix Vice President Ronnie Mohammed told Newsday that after the Minister's attack, his company had decided to place newspaper advertisements pointing out that the Government, not the industry, was responsible for the rise in chicken prices. The advertisements list a range of recurrent expenditure increases which, the company claims, "the Government and its agencies have inflicted on the dependable and stable chicken industry." These increases include Plipdeco Land Rental 12 percent; Minimum Wage 14.3 percent; National Gas Company — Natural Gas 4.2 percent; TTEC — electricity 9.95 percent. The company also claims that "because of the rampant and seemingly uncontrollable rises in murders, robberies and kidnappings in particular, the businesses have been forced to step up their security expenditure by more than 300 percent.

In addition, the advertisements say, poultry producers have had to deal with increases in Plastic and Packaging Material 5 to 8 percent; Insurance 20 to 50 percent; Lubricants 3 percent; Tyres 10.5 percent; Ocean Freight 51 percent; Grain Prices, corn 26 percent and Soybean Meal 41 percent. "All we are saying" Mr Mohammed noted, "is that diplomacy should apply and that statements with respect to boycotting an entire industry should not be made. Discussions should be held with all the concerned parties to determine the facts first." This point, it seems to us, is quite reasonable and casts a poor light on the Minister's outburst which is more unfortunate for having been made at a public political meeting. While rising prices of basic foodstuffs must be a cause for public concern, Minister Robinson Regis should be more cautious and studied in her reaction, not assuming without getting the facts that industry cartels are exploiting the market without justification for their own benefit. Some weeks ago, Robinson-Regis ran afoul of some of the country's bakers when she condemned them for not dropping their prices to reflect the fall in the price of flour. A number of leading bakeries have had to correct her by pointing out that they had, in fact, reduced the price of their flour-based products. The Government, of course, must keep a weather eye open for producers of basic food items who up their prices for no good reason. But it would be wrong to instinctively view these business people as profiteering stereotypes. And it would even be worse to attempt to gain some political advantage at their expense.