Butchers in Lower Manya bemoan current state of slaughterhouses

Correspondence from Eastern Region

A visit by GhanaWeb to some of the slaughterhouses in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern region in Kpong, the Agomanya market and Akuse has revealed that the facilities are not conducive for the slaughter and sale of animals to the general public.

At slaughterhouse at Kpong, it was observed that there was no drainage system, compelling the workers to carry the liquid waste for disposal outside and into the open.

The tiles on the walls and ceiling in the facility had also peeled off.

The butchers say despite regular payments of revenue of GH¢10 each to the Veterinary Services Department and the Environmental Health Services on every animal slaughtered, very little is done to enhance their welfare.

Chief Butcher at the Kpong slaughterhouse, Masud Abdulmunin said lack of water was the major challenge facing him and his colleagues at the abattoir.

“Our problem is water that we can be using to wash here all the time. The issue is that we have complained about somebody being detailed here to be taking care of this place but we have not gotten any better response,” the Chief Butcher complained.

Though a non-governmental organization (NGO) drilled a borehole to aid the work of the slaughterhouse, Masud Abdulmunin said that borehole can only aid them in the slaughtering of the animals in the slaughter slab but not at the point of sale and the washrooms.

The Chief Butcher said persistent calls to fix the challenges confronting the facility have yielded no response from the Assembly.

Asked how they coped with the challenges, he said “we’re managing. Sometimes we go for water outside.”

Assembly man for Kpong Zongo, Gershon Amaglo, during the Assembly’s last sitting raised the issue of poor maintenance of the facility and called for urgent steps to remedy the situation.

The story was worse at the Agomanya Market where the Chief Butcher, Yakubu Haruna who has worked in the facility for the past 33 years lamented about the small and unhygienic nature of the facility.

“For a very long time, our butcher house has been too small for us. My complaints have gone to the MCEs [past and present] that we need expansion [of the facility] because the place is too small without any action,” said Yakubu Haruna.

About 11 butchers currently operate from the facility and the Chief Butcher says an expansion or renovation of the place would be welcome by the butchers.

To Yakubu Haruna, erecting concrete platforms to replace the worn-out and frail tables on which they sell their meat will be a step in the right direction.

GhanaWeb also made similar observations at the Akuse slaughterhouse.
Chief Butcher at the facility, Mahama Abdullai in an interview also cited the absence of water facilities and a good drainage system as major challenges facing their operations.

“There is no water at the slaughterhouse so we have to go very far to fetch water to our operations here,” he bemoaned.

Assemblyman for Osorkutu Electoral Area, Promise Asare said the community needed a modern abattoir as the current place was unhygienic for the slaughtering of animals for human consumption.

He said the Assembly must renovate the place to justify the collection of revenue.

“Whatever activities go on here daily, they come for the revenue so as they come for the revenue, they must at least detail someone under their care to take care of the place but they take the revenue without maintenance,” he said.

Municipal Environmental Health Officer, Gordon Amevor when contacted by GhanaWeb admitted that all the abattoirs were in a bad state.

“If you enter, you’ll see that they [slaughterhouses] are not in the best of shape. We have captured it in our action plans that something should be done about it and it’s in the pipeline. The MCE [Simon Kweku Tetteh] promised that when funds come, they’ll actually renovate it,” he said.

Though he said a borehole has been dug to supply water for the butchers, he, however, said it was part of its plans to construct a proper drainage system for liquid waste, adding that “the current system is choked and needs to be cleared to create a more effective slaughterhouse to function efficiently.”

Asked when these defects would be fixed, the Environmental Health Officer said “Mine is to put it in the action plan [and] write a memo to the MCE and then keep on reminding him. I cannot fix the time for you. He [MCE] only assured me last year that whenever funds come, he can assure me that they’ll do something about it.”