Bird flu scare is government mafia

- Consumers’ League

Gov’t communication on Bird flu is

 inadequate and misleading

The president of the Cameroon consumer’s league has said that the present bird flu scare in the country was created by some self-seeking government officials to satisfy their selfish interests. Delor Magellan KamseuKamgaing made the statement in a chat with the press 9 June 2016 in Yaounde while fielding questions from pressmen.

                Responding to questions from journalists who wanted to know why chicken consumers and breeders are not associated in decision making on strategies to eradicate the bird flu epidemic, the former journalist said: “we salute the action undertaken by government to eradicate the epidemic of bird flu but at the same time we are worried by the bad faith of the government in intoxicating the public that the disease is widespread in Yaounde; this is what we qualify as a well planned mafia on the part of the government.”

                The consumers’ president wondered for instance why government should talk of an epidemic in Yaounde when only one out of the hundreds of poultry farms in the capital city has so far been linked with bird flu.

                “Why ban the sale of table birds from other farms when the virus has not been detected in them?” Magellan questioned, also wondering why fowl consumption has been banned despite the fact that it is scientifically proven than well-cooked chicken cannot transmit the bird flu virus.

                “This shows that it is not the health of consumers that the government is concerned about but rather some other interest that is more under the surface.”

                It is understood that the ban on imported chicken has blocked a source of good income for some government agents, apart from the fact that is has put importers out of business. Many believe that these people are the ones who conceived the bird flu idea and hatched and sponsored the plot just to push government to come back on the ban on importation.

                The consumers’ president therefore says that the league has begun a massive campaign to sensitize the public hat properly cooked chicken doesn’t have bird flu. The league has also urged the government to create makeshift markets for the sale of non-infected chicken while also stopping the arrest of chicken dealers and the confiscation of their chicken.

                The league also reminds the government that any decision making processes that concern the rights of consumers must also include these consumers, by virtue of the law of 6 May 2011 bearing on consumer protection.

                Meanwhile the league has also reassured consumers that home-grown chicken in safe, wholesome and much better than imported chicken whose condition and period of breeding are doubtful.