ISLAMABAD, May 8: The government is seeking at least $25 million technical assistance grant from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to deal with bird flu crisis and support the sinking poultry industry, officials told Dawn on Monday.

They said negotiations had already started between the government and the two international financial institutions. A representative team of the World Bank and ADB recently visited Islamabad and discussed the issue with officials of the ministry of food, agriculture and livestock (Minfal) and ministry of health in details.

The Minfal officials said the banks were trying to provide money in the shape of loan instead of grant. However, the government was trying to persuade them to facilitate grant as the country was hit by bird flu crisis soon after the October-8 earthquake that played havoc with Azad Kashmir and the NWFP.

“The government is in pressure from the poultry industry which demands compensation and has announced Rs10 billion losses only in the last three months due to bird flu crisis,” a senior Minfal official said.

He said the government was unable to compensate the poultry industry when bird flu first hit three-four years back.

He said representatives of the Poultry Association of Pakistan would take up the issue of compensation and government’s support in the shape of tax-holiday in a meeting of the Pakistan Poultry Board scheduled for Tuesday (today).

Representatives of the ministry of finance will also participate in the meeting and consider the poultry industry proposals for the next year’s budget.

“The government is in no position to create its own funds to prepare a contingency plan for bird flu and help the poultry industry. That’s why it is knocking at the doors of international financial institutions,” the official said.

When contacted, the federal government’s spokesman for avian flu Dr Mohammad Afzal told Dawn that the ADB and World Bank had already asked the government to asses the cost of various components of its plan to meet with the avian flu challenge. Their team had arrived in Islamabad and observed the situation and government’s preparations.

The government would determine the cost of the projects related to surveillance of bird flu and diagnosis, mass awareness campaign, training programmes and legislation.

“At present we don’t know who is responsible for what. We don’t know who will check a farmer if he does not report avian flu in his farm to the government authorities,” Mr Afzal added.

He said stringent legislations were needed to check the movement of the bird flu virus and make the poultry farm owners and those related to the chicken business take precautionary measures.

The ADB/WB grant would help Pakistan to come up with legislations with clear boundaries of duties and responsibilities of the federal and provincial governments, he added.

In reply to a question, he said the health ministry and Minfal had estimated $25 million grant from both the banks. However, if the banks were not ready to provide the grant then the government had three options: either to create its own funds, go to other countries and financial institutions for grant or accept loan from the ADB and World Bank.