In 13 years centralised slaughtering of chickens has gone from a public health imperative to prevent bird flu to financially unviable. Along the way, most live-chicken traders have quit the business - making it a highly attractive proposition for the remaining vendors. They buy their stock at HK$13 a catty and sell it for more than double that.
Now former live-chicken vendors who gave up their licences are demanding them back. They say they, and the people of Hong Kong, have been cheated. Meanwhile, legislators yesterday called on the government to increase the supply of live chickens to prevent profiteering.
Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok told the Legislative Council a consultant engaged to study central slaughtering, which was to have replaced the live chicken trade altogether, had concluded it was not viable because live chickens now accounted for such a small share of the market for chicken. The market share of chilled and frozen chicken had increased from 60 per cent in 2003 to over 90 per cent last year.
'Also, Hongkongers might not accept that they may need to spend as much money on slaughtered chickens as on live ones,' he said.
Chow said the government would consider the consultant's report and give a decision to Legco later.
A senior government official acknowledged the remaining 131 vendors - down from a peak of almost 500 - who rejected government offers of HK$800,000 to HK$3.2 million to surrender their licences by July 2008 operate like a cartel. 'This is like the Western Harbour Crossing, where the operators do not need to care too much about the number of customers as long as the charge is high enough,' said the official, who did not want to be identified.