Friday, 11 March 2016

Pig Farmers protest in Lisbon caused havoc in Friday evening traffic

 Hog industry are in crisis in Portugal
 Pig Farmers in confrontation with police forces
Confusion on the Second Ring Road with more than 300 trucks 
entering Lisbon

The spokesman for the Pig industry Crisis Cabinet
 said in statements to SIC Notícias, that more than "250 trucks 
carrying live animals, cereals, meat and the like," 
would be entering Lisbon during the afternoon. 
The high number of vehicles will congest traffic in the Second Ring Road 
and North-South axis,  explained João Correia 
who asked people, whom this event will cause inconvenience, 
to pardon the pig farmers. 
At 15:30, dozens of trucks from various parts of the country, 
were already entering Lisbon.

According to the same official, 
the pig farmers will deliver a "gift" to the Minister, Capoulas Santos, 
with a "book of instructions so that the minister 
could realize what we need to do, every day in our production facilities." 
João Correia also said that the sector "is in mourning" 
and that they will express "displeasure by the inertia of the government, 
since taking office, that somehow could lessen the calamity 
that the sector is going through." 
Hog farmers are protesting, because  "24 000 live pigs," 
are imported from Spain, each week, 
with a "further one million kilograms of processed meat"  from other countries. 
"We are producing only 65% of our needs. 
Portugal has always had these imports. 
We can not accept that our pigs within our production units, 
but with great difficulties in gaining access 
to the industrial units in Portugal". 

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