Chicken farm given close to €400,000 - Maximum funding allowed is €150,000

The Ciappara family, whose produce is sold under the Hi-Grade Chick label, has received close to €400,000 from rural development funds through applications filed by different family members. Under the Rural Development Programme 2007 - 2013, Catherine Ciappara received €36,827 in 2009 and another €150,000 under the second call issued in 2011, applying under C & K Poultry Ltd. She applied under Measure 123, providing funds for “adding value to agricultural products”. From the same funding programme, her son Emmanuel Ciappara received €57,568 in 2009 to cover 50 per cent of additional investment in the farm. Under the second call, in 2011, he was allocated a further €150,000 under Measure 121 for the “modernisation of agricultural holdings”. The maximum funding allowed under the programme is €150,000. The proportion of funding is 75 per cent by the European Union and 25 per cent by the government. Farms that employ more than 50 people should not receive more than 40 per cent funding. Inaugurating the total investment at the Qrendi farm yesterday, Roderick Galdes, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, defined it as a “state-of-the art” farm. More in Times of Malta and...