Dutch poultry expert W. J Oosterkamp has expressed grave concern over the unhygienic conditions of poultry markets in Pakistan and said that export in such pathetic conditions is not possible. He was delivering a lecture on the "Framework For Quality Assurance of The Export of Chicken" to the delegation of the Poultry Traders in collaboration with the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) on Monday.
He said that hard work was necessary to increase the awareness among the traders about the importance of the hygienic condition, which was necessary for the import of poultry and its products. Oosterkamp said that the stepwise approach should be adopted for the export of the poultry which includes development of the mini slaughtering lines and cold storage as well as medium slaughter lines and expanded storage.
He said that either slaughtering should be done in mini or medium slaughtering line but should not be done the traditional way. He also said that the markets should be developed in such a way that whole sale area would be made of strong concrete, gutters are open for better cleaning, availability of high pressure water for cleaning and a proper water cleaning should be set up.
Oosterkamp also said that the proper solid waste management was also necessary which includes waste collection at site, transportation of the waste and waste disposal method, which includes recycling and composting.
On this occasion, President Poultry Traders Association Tariq Javed said that a new modern market was under construction near Sagian in Lahore with the collaboration of the government of the Punjab. He said that the cost of the project was Rs 100 million and the area of construction was 5 acre. He also said that new market would be equipped with all the modern facilities and it will be functional till 2010.
Tariq said the government should provide them facilities to maintain cleanliness in the poultry markets. He also said that there was a lot of potential in the Korean and Chinese market for the export of poultry products.
Director TDAP Sajid Hussain said that the lecture was the part of their strategy to explore new markets for the Pakistani products and poultry products have the huge potential of earning foreign exchange for Pakistan. Director General TDAP Lahore Agha Zafar Mehdi Shah, Director TDAP Dr Nazim Latif, Deputy Director TDAP Muhammad Baqir Hussain were also present on the occasion.