SOLOMON ISLANDS – Chickens are starving to death in their hundreds in Solomon Islands while a ship carrying feed is unable to get into Honiara’s main port due to shipping congestion.

The ongoing death of chickens in poultry farms across the country is a serious concern for farmers, as the ship that is carrying vital imported chicken feeds is yet to dock at the Point Cruz port in the capital.

Reports reaching the Solomon Star this week said, the cargo ship Sofrana Joinville has been waiting for its turn to dock outside the Honiara harbour, since its arrival a fortnight ago.

This has troubled local poultry farmers as they wait for the chicken feed to reach distribution agent, Vuvula Poultry, who say there is now a chicken feed crisis due to the delay.

Speaking to the Solomon Star last week, poultry farmer Nester Chasi said she could not bear the sad scene of the death of her chickens.

“The continuous death of the chickens from my poultry farm is a serious concern for me and my poultry business.

“I have turned back a number of orders from my clients already and the situation is getting worst.

“I have not supplied eggs to my local clients as well, due to the shortage of chicken feeds in the country,” the broiler farmer said.

“Our production depends entirely on the feeds because we are dealing with living creatures here,” she said.

“The government must look seriously into the current problem that local poultry farmers are now facing,” Chasi added.

Chasi said when she checked with Vuvula Poultry to see what was going on, they referred her to the Solomon Islands Ports Authority.

She then had to forward her request to the Ports Authority to push for the quick docking of the liner but her request for a hearing was turned down.

Another poultry farmer, Kungalai David Alaha, said the current feed shortage had also affected his chickens.

Alaha claimed that poultry farmers in the country are finding it hard to cope with the feed shortage as their main supplier, Vuvula Poultry, ran out of feed two weeks ago.

Both farmers said in their 10 years of working in the poultry business this was by far the worse incident that they have encountered.

Responding to the claims, an officer from the department responsible at Ports Authority said that the liner will be docking at the wharf, according to the ships docking schedule.

“The containers carrying the chicken feeds will likely be unloaded tomorrow when the ship berths,” the officer said.

Solomon Star reported that it understands that the congestions at the only Ports Authority wharf was affecting supplies to most business houses in the country, especially Honiara.

- Solomon Star