Wet markets required to have chillers to keep poultry meat fresh, says Penang Island City Council

GEORGE TOWN, Jan 12 — Poultry sellers at wet markers here must install chillers to ensure that chicken meat being sold is fresh, the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) explained today.

The city council said all poultry stalls must have the chillers in place to store and display their dressed chickens from March 1.

“The chillers the stalls have to install costs around RM3,000 but each stall must purchase or lease their own chiller,” the city council said in a statement.

MBPP will provide free upgrades and wiring at the affected markets to support the ruling.

It said the use of water and ice cubes to preserve meat freshness at such stalls were inadequate and meat must be refrigerated at below 4 degrees Celcius to preserve their freshness.

MBPP stressed that it has held discussions with 175 poultry sellers on the island regarding this new policy to ban the slaughtering of poultry at wet markets.

It pointed out that the Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) has already stopped poultry slaughtering in wet markets since October 1991.

It also said it was the Local Government and Housing Ministry that implemented a policy to stop all poultry slaughtering activities in wet markets back in 2006.

“The ministry issued a circular in 2014 instructing all local councils to implement the policy in accordance with the poultry slaughtering centre guidelines,” it said.

MBPP issued an early notice to all chicken sellers on November 29 in 2019 on the implementation of the policy.

It said the dressed poultry distribution centre being built in Batu Lanchang was to ease the implementation of the policy.

“The distribution centre was to ensure the freshness of the chickens that are certified with the veterinary health mark (VHM), and all chickens are sold within 24 hours after processing,” it said.

It said the project was awarded to a private company through an open tender.

It stressed that all poultry sellers have the option to take poultry supplies from the centre or to obtain supplies from their own suppliers with VHM certification.

“They are not forced to take supplies from the dressed chicken distribution centre,” it said.

MBPP was responding to complaints by the Gabungan Peniaga-peniaga Ayam Pulau Pinang yesterday over the requirement to install chillers at their stalls in wet markets.

The Gabungan Peniaga-peniaga Ayam Pulau Pinang chairman Azizur Rahman claimed they were forced to install chillers costing RM12,000.

He also claimed they were forced to take frozen dressed chicken supplies from the poultry distribution centre in Batu Lanchang that was managed by a foreign-owned private company.

He expressed concerns on whether the dressed chickens from the centre were slaughtered in a halal manner.