Press Releases
Backyard poultry ban aims to safeguard public health
In response to the meeting of Heung Yee Kuk to discuss the issue of filing a
judicial review against the ban on backyard poultry, a spokesman for the Health,
Welfare and Food Bureau said today (February 21) that the objective of the
relevant legislation was to safeguard the health of the backyard poultry owners,
their families and neighbours, as well as the Hong Kong public.
"We believe that the measure does not only help protect the health and safety of
the New Territories villagers and other members of the public, but also avoid
local economic activities from coming to a standstill due to risks of avian
influenza", the spokesman said.
"According to the studies by the World Health Organisation on avian influenza
outbreaks in other regions, backyard farming was the source in many cases. Due
to space constraints, backyard poultry owners could not install biosecurity
measures to prevent cross infection. It is therefore necessary for us to ban
such activities to reduce possible infection among poultry which might
eventually cause human infection.
"No government could bear to ignore the threat of avian influenza. Instead, all
are racing against time to prevent any occurrence of human infection cases. It
is a matter of fact that backyard poultry keeping activities have posed an
immediate and very serious threat to the public health in Hong Kong.
"In fact, inspections following the implementation of the ban found that most of
the households no longer reared backyard poultry. Through the cooperation
between the Government and the public , the issue of the threat posed by
backyard poultry can be settled within a short period of time.
"The arrangement of not allowing poultry to be stocked up in households' homes
waiting for compensation has proved to be an effective way to protect the health
of the affected households, their family members and neighbours without causing
disturbance to the public," the spokesman said.
The spokesman also reiterated that the ban on backyard poultry keeping did not
violate the Basic Law.
"It is hoped that Heung Yee Kuk and the New Territories residents could support
the Government to jointly fight against the threat of avian influenza and
protect the public health in Hong Kong amid the peak season of influenza," the
spokesman added.
Ends/Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Issued at HKT 20:21
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