Poultry farmers in the Ashanti Region have hailed the temporal ban on poultry imports and exports in the country.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, Alhaji Issa Buckman, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Poultry Farmers Association, said this has helped to curtail the spread of the bird flu disease across the country.

He said the ban on imports and exports of eggs, duck, turkey, parrot, domestic fowl and feed was a step in the right direction.

“The region is the heartbeat of the poultry industry in Ghana. We have, therefore, educated our members on the signs, symptoms, causes and prevention of the disease. We are praying it does not reach here,” Alhaji Buckman said.

He commended the Regional Veterinary Service for their roles in the education and control and appealed to poultry farmers in the region to keep their farms clean and report birds with strange behaviors to the Veterinary Service.

On the energy challenges, Alhaji Buckman said the energy crisis was crippling their businesses in view of the high cost of production and low sales returns.

He said there was a need for the establishment of a poultry board to regulate their activities and help them secure loans for their businesses.

Alhaji Buckman also called on government to tighten security at the country’s entry points as well as other unapproved routes across the country to prevent the infiltration of the disease.