The MLP’s spokesman on agriculture, Noel Farrugia, said the agriculture ministry had boasted of the summer importation of 3,000 turkey chicks for consumption during the Yuletide season.

This showed, he said, how the industry had been reduced to nothing because Malta used to import some 30,000 to 40,000 turkeys each year. It was absurd that in this situation the government should adopt such an attitude, which was an insult to consumers and producers/processors of turkey meat. What had happened was that instead of fresh turkeys over Christmas, Malta had imported large, frozen turkeys.

With the government claiming it was heavily subsidising agriculture, the crisis in this industry was not acceptable, Mr Farrugia said. The government should fully analyse the situation.