By Robert Hart , Staff Reporter
Henry Rainford (left), managing director of the Jamaica Livestock Association (JLA), discusses the devastation on the poultry industry after the passage of Hurricane Ivan while JLA Chairman Dr. John Masterton looks on. - RUDOLPH BROWN/Chief Photographer
A ROW has developed between the Jamaica Livestock Association (JLA) and the Jamaica Egg Farmers Association (JEFA) over the rationing of permits for the importation of eggs, if there is a shortfall in supply over the next three months.
During a poultry committee meeting yesterday at the JLA's Newport East headquarters, downtown Kingston, it was revealed that the sector could see a five million-a-month drop off in egg production in the coming months as a result of a wipe out of poultry farms during the recent onslaught of Hurricane Ivan.
According to an egg production forecast prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture's Databank and Evaluation Division, local poultry farmers will likely produce about 7.2 million eggs per month from October to December. This is in stark contrast with the roughly 13 million eggs produced each month during the same period last year.
The committee decided to request permits from the Ministry of Finance and Planning, allowing the duty-free importation of eggs in the event that demand outstrips supply.
TENSIONS EXPLODE
But simmering tensions ex-ploded when Sandor Pike, of the Duty Concessions Department in the Agriculture Ministry, asked for a breakdown of the requests that would be made from the two associations.
Henry Rainford, JLA vice-chairman, said his association would require permits to import a maximum two containers per week for the next 13 weeks, to ensure it can satisfy the needs of the small farmers the JLA represents. Each container contains 900 to 1,000 cases of eggs.
But at the same time, Mark Campbell and Ian Ebanks, representing the JEFA, argued their association would require a similar number of permits to ensure that it can supply its members if necessary. They suggested, too, that their members are responsible for the majority of eggs supplied locally, and questioned why the JLA would require so many permits.
"We at the JLA will do it the way we have always done it. If the JEFA wants to make a request that's fine with us," said a visibly incensed Mr. Rainford. He then took a swipe at the JEFA representatives, claiming they had earlier suggested that their association's members could handle stock shortfalls without importing.
However, apparently offended by the suggestion that the JLA's small farmers were in far more need than the members of the JEFA, Mr. Ebanks accused Mr. Rainford of playing politics with the needs of the egg farming community.
DISHONESTY
"I have sat in this committee for ten years and I am tired of the dishonesty," Mr. Ebanks shouted.
"You (Mr. Rainford) introduce politics whenever it suits you. Talking about you protecting the little people."
After a heated exchange between the two men, Mr. Ebanks walked out of the meeting leaving his colleague, Mr. Campbell to argue for the association.
The two organisations even-tually agreed to a 60/40 rationing of requests for 26 containers over three months, after egg farmer Clinton McGann vowed to collect his required eight containers of eggs through the JLA. Mr. McGann is believed to control 25 to 30 per cent of the local egg supply.
Mr. Campbell, however, claimed that the JLA was known to over-order eggs and said the sector did not need a repeat of that practice. "I can't see what Mr. Rainford is going to do with the rest (after supplying McGann) because this 'small farmers figure' is very nebulous," he argued.
