Farmer association claims foul play by Tablebirds

A GROUP of poultry farmers in Lae are crying foul, claiming they have been mistreated by Tablebirds.
They said that had resulted in losses for their small businesses.
Former chairman of the Morobe Poultry Growers’ Association Jack Nalau, representing six contracted farmers in the Igam area, in Lae, claimed they, as a group, had been snubbed by Tablebirds, which had stopped collecting and delivering chicken from their farms.
They claim the company stopped collecting chickens from their six farms since the bridge on the 8km Wongkos access road, connecting them to the main road at Igam barracks, broke down last September.
Nalau said the bridge and parts of the access road had been maintained with the bridge being used again but the company had stopped going into their area to collect chicken.
He said they had approached the company several times but had yet to receive any positive feedback from project and company executives.
He said their contract allowed them to benefit from chicks, feed, sawdust and the collection and transportation of chickens from their farms.
“From this group of six farmers, we produce 26,000 chicken in a single batch,” Nalau said.
He said he may have targeted because he had always been vocal on issues affecting farmers.
Tablebirds project manager Philip Inguba said the general manager, who was on Christmas break, would comment when he returned.
The group of farmers expected their estimated losses to run into hundreds of thousands of kina.