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Following is a transcript (English portion) of remarks made by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, at a stand-up media session at the Legislative Council Building today (March 15):
Reporter: (on the number of chickens in Hong Kong)
Dr Chow: I think the number of chickens, if they get infected, will largely affect the general public. And that is the reason why we have to control the number of chickens in Hong Kong at a certain level. And that is the reason why we determine the number of chickens in our farms should be limited to under 2 million. And with that, I think the supply to our market would be roughly about 20,000 a day. And together with the similar number from the Mainland, there will be around 40,000. Certainly we will look at the risk of the situation (to see) whether we can make it more flexible, particularly during the festive seasons. We are looking at four festive seasons that we would be able to relax and also control the risk within a few days.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:58
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