Member of Parliament MP Ilda Maria da Conceicao said many Timorese eat imported chicken rather than local chicken (manu Timor) because compared to locally grown chicken, the imported one are many times cheaper.
She said most Timorese would prefer to eat local chicken but because it is expensive people are turning to imported chicken instead.
“Some Public Servants with Level 1 or 2 when they feel like eating meat they have to buy imported chicken (ayam potong) because they simply cannot afford to buy manu Timor. It is too expensive,” MP da Conceicao said at the National Parliament, in Dili.
Resident Maria Celeste, a social worker, said imported food like canned food, ayam potong (imported chicken) and sausages contains chemical substances that can be harmful to people’s health.
“Some people say ayam potong and sausage have formalin but people continue to buy these items because they are a lot cheaper than manu Timor,” she said.
She said one manu Timor can cost up to $10 and fresh meat can cost $5 per kilogram so most extended families on low incomes cannot afford to buy locally grown meat.
“If we want meat, we buy ayam potong and sausages because we are low income workers earning just $115 a month so sometimes we cannot even eat meat for a whole month,” said Celeste.
Meanwhile the Chief of Department for Environmental Health and Sanitation Vigilance at MoH, Tomasia de Sousa, said her ministry through the Integrated Work of the Community Health Program (SISCA) will continue promoting health in the community including also about the consumption of healthy foods.
“Through SISCA, we are informing the community that healthy food is food that does not contain chemical substances and is clean.”
