By Hah Foong Lian

IPOH: A ceiling price for chicken sold ex farm must be fixed so that retailers will not be subject to the mercy of farmers and fluctuating prices in the coming Hari Raya and Deepavali festivities, says a group representing poultry dealers.

Perak Poultry Dealers Association chairman Jimmy Chong Tong Sing made the call yesterday in commenting on the latest announcement by the Government on the retail price of chicken.

If the ex farm price of live chicken was fixed at either RM4.50 or RM4.60 a kilo, retailers would be able to survive, Chong said after submitting a memorandum on the matter to Perak Unity and National Integration and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Chen Fook Chye.

But if poultry farmers raised the price to RM5 a kilo, retailers would find it hard to make ends meet, he added.

Last week, the Government unveiled the list of price-controlled items effective from today to Oct 8 for Hari Raya and from Oct 20 to Nov 3 for Deepavali.

For live chicken, the wholesale ceiling price is RM5.25 a kilo, while the retail ceiling price is RM5.95.

For standard chicken (slaughtered and dressed, with leg, head, liver and gizzard), the wholesale ceiling price is RM6.20 a kilo, and the retail ceiling price RM7.

For super chicken (slaughtered and dressed, without leg, head, liver and gizzard), the wholesale ceiling price is RM7 a kilo, and the retail ceiling price RM7.85.

Chong feared that, without an ex-farm ceiling price, farmers could even sell chickens at RM5 per kilo.

Mustafa Kamal, a chicken retailer at Tanjung Rambutan market, wondered why the Government did not fix a ceiling price for chickens sold at the farm.