The Food & Environmental Hygiene Department has issued letters to all live poultry retailers inviting them to surrender their fresh provision shop licences or public market stall tenancies.

Starting tomorrow, interested poultry stall owners may submit their application to the department's environmental hygiene office in their district, together with copy of their licences or tenancies.

The deadline for application is July 12, 2005.

Qualified applicants may get ex-gratia payment

Under the voluntary surrender scheme, poultry retailers may obtain an ex-gratia payment ranging from $200,000 to $503,000 upon surrender of their licences or public market stall tenancies and permanent cessation of their live poultry business, based on the size of their premises.

The Government will also provide tailor-made retraining and financial assistance for workers who become unemployed because of their employers's participation in the scheme.

They can obtain at most an allowance of $8,000 for eight weeks' full-time retraining and a one-off payment of $10,000 should they fail to find employment afterwards.

For those licensees operating in private premises who choose to continue with their live poultry business, they may apply to the department for a loan to enhance the sanitary and hygiene conditions of their stalls. The amount can be up to $50,000 or 60% of the actual cost of the improvement work, whichever is less.

Briefing sessions to be arranged

Special briefing sessions will be held for live poultry retailers later this week to help them understand the scheme's details and application procedure.