OWERRI – The Imo State Government said it has commenced the sale of the first batch of its birds at the State Modern Poultry, Avutu.
Gov. Rochas Okorocha made this known on Tuesday at Avutu in Obowo Local Government Area at the flag-off of the first sale of about 10,000 chickens raised in the farm.
The governor, represented by the Speaker, Imo House of Assembly, Mr Benjamin Uwajimogu, expressed satisfaction that the poultry, one of the legacies of late Chief Sam Mbakwe administration, had come back to life.
He said the poultry had remained moribund for over 20 years.
Okorocha said his administration decided to revive the poultry as part of its efforts to create employment opportunities, promote agriculture, as well as boost the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state.
He said that his government would not rest on its oars until all moribund industries in the state were revamped, and abandoned projects completed.
“The Poultry, within its few months of reactivation, has produced the first batch of over 10,000 chickens for sale to the public.
“The farm will make available more than 100,000 birds for sale by December 2014,” he said.
Okorocha said the farm had the capacity to house over 2.5 million birds, as well as provide investment in other areas like fisheries, livestock, feed production, processing and packaging of frozen chickens.
He called on investors to take advantage of the opportunities available in the project.
The Speaker pledged the donation of 20,000 chicks to the poultry, as part of his contribution to the development of the farm.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr Frank Ibezim, recounted the journey to the reactivation of the Imo Modern Poultry by the present administration, and commended the governor for his vision.
Ibezim noted that the poultry farm, the largest in South Saharan Africa, is situated on about 177 hectres of land with 45 poultry houses of 2.5 million birds’ capacity.
He said the farm had a feed mill of 3,000 metric tons silo, as well as hatcheries, a layer capacity of 235,000 birds and about 100 ton cold room for preservation of processed chickens.
The commissioner also noted that the government was working in collaboration with a South African Agric investment company, Whawna Crux, to rehabilitate the Poultry and make it function to full capacity.
He said the farm would engage both skilled and unskilled manpower; provide capacity building to youths on modern poultry keeping. [eap_ad_1] He said it would also involve empowerment and provide bye-off and processing services for poultry farmers in the state.
The Commissioner for Community Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Val Mbamala, however, expressed regret over the neglect of investment projects by previous administrations, saying it led to poor revenue generation in the state.
He commended Okorocha for rehabilitating the Poultry, the Imo Rubber Company, and Imo Palm Plantation, among others.
The traditional ruler of Avutu Autonomous Community, Eze Ebel Chukwuocha, expressed happiness that the farm would engage unemployed youths in the area.
He assured the government of the continued support of the people of the area. (NAN)
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