The President of the Council for Compensation Saad Nasser announced his decision to immediately begin compensating poultry farmers for damages caused by Avian Flu.
Nasser, who is also an adviser to the Agricultural Minister, said the cases will be reviewed according to the order in which they were received and will be examined to ensure the claimant is eligible for compensation. The council has examined the first group of cases and has approved the disbursement of LE230,000 to a farm which incurred losses due to the flu. He added that LE35 million has been set aside to compensate those affected by efforts to control Avian Flu.
Any farmer that did not notify the authorities when infected poultry was found will be forbidden from receiving compensation and their farms will be closed for up to six months, said Nassar.
In contrast, the farmers who immediately notified the authorities after discovering infected poultry are entitled to receive up to 60 percent of the value of the exterminated birds in compensation, said Mohamed Shafie, vice president of the Union of Poultry Producers.
During its meeting this morning with the Ministry of Agriculture, the commission in charge of the support fund for compensating poultry producers affected by Avian flu said only farms that notified the authorities when they found the infection will be eligible for compensation.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
