NINETEEN poultry farms in Toledo City, Cebu have sanitation problems and they are operating without business permits.

These were discovered after Mayor Marjorie Perales ordered a citywide inspection following the complaints against a particular poultry farm—the alleged source of fly infestation in Barangay Cambang-ug.

Perales said she has the list of the poultry farms.

“Now, we have already identified them. So, we will go to them and monitor them one by one,” she said.

According to City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) head Amador Cavan, there were no business permits issued to any of the 19 poultry farms during the time of Perales’s predecessor, former mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña.

“There were no business permits that were granted. Maybe most of them didn’t comply, but they still operate,” Cavan said in a phone interview.

He said they still have to decide whether to close the poultry farms.

If the City would close these businesses, Cavan said the city’s economy and the food industry could be affected as there is a high demand for chicken meat due to the African swine fever issue.

The Cenro is observing the villages of Landahan, Subayon, Dumlog, Carmen and Magdugo after it received complaints from residents about the poultry farms located in these areas. (JCT)