The Dongguan government of Guangdong Province will proceed with
its plan to ban pig farming in the city from 2009, a top official
said at the weekend.
And the authorities are also now considering banning poultry
farming, he said.
Liang Guoying, vice-mayor of Dongguan, Guangdong Province, said
in a press statement: "We made the decision after serious and
thoughtful consideration. The administration has no intention of
changing that decision at this stage.
"We are also considering banning poultry farming in the city,"
he said.
To ensure there is no detrimental impact on the supply of pork
to the public, the government will make "appropriate arrangements"
with pig farmers, Liang said without elaborating.
The decision to introduce the ban has received support from
authorities in 26 of Dongguan's 32 towns, as it will make room for
the city to develop more value-added industries, as well as helping
the environment, he said.
"It's an inevitable trend of urbanization and industrial
restructuring," Liang said.
He added that it was a natural process for any developing city
to replace its weaker industries.
In a city with an area of 2,465 sq km and a population of more
than 10 million, the government must cherish its land resources and
make good use of them.
Large areas cannot be given over to raising pigs and poultry, he
said.
Guan Dongsheng, a professor of ecological research at Sun
Yat-sen University, said it was a wise decision from the
perspective of environmental protection.
"The pork and poultry industries are responsible for a large
amount of the pollution of water sources," he told China
Daily yesterday.
"It is not feasible for a fast-growing city to put restrictions
on industries that prop up its economy and impossible to reduce its
population, so it is good to reduce pollution where it can."
But pig farmers and other academics have criticized the
government for its "irresponsible" decision.
Peng Guoping, who has made his living from raising pigs for the
past 26 years, said the government had failed to take the interests
of pig farmers into consideration.
"The government could introduce guidelines to make the industry
more environment friendly, but instead they have chosen to kill it
without a word," he said.
Ding Li, a professor at the Guangdong Academy of Social
Sciences, said the government is depriving pig farmers of their
basic rights.
"Rather than imposing an industry-wide ban, it would be better
to bring in regulations to minimize pollution and flush out those
who fail to meet the standard," he was quoted as saying by the
Xinhua News Agency.
(China Daily December 11, 2007)
