Slaughterhouse: Court directs city admin to set up facility

IHC dismisses petition after issuing directions.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed the chief commissioner and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman to establish a slaughterhouse in Islamabad and take strict action against vendors selling meat from unhealthy animals.

Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC directed the officials to address the petitioner’s grievances before disposing of his petition. Since approval for a slaughterhouse is already pending with the city administration, the court directed them to take necessary action.

Petitioner Amjad Islam Malik, through his counsel Yasir Mehmood Chaudhry, had approached the high court for the availability of fresh, hygienic and stamped meat for the public. Apart from the chief commissioner and CDA chairman, he also made the district health officer a respondent in the case.

In the petition, the counsel stated that the capital lacks a slaughterhouse, and that with the passage of time, the quality of meat in the city has declined.

Chaudhry said there were more than 200 butcher shops in Islamabad, mostly along main roads, and that meat gets contaminated at these locations, as butchers hang cuts of meat or whole carcasses outside their shops. He claims there are no checks and balances placed by the respondents on the quality of meat.

“Due to the unavailability of a slaughterhouse in Islamabad, unstamped and even ‘haram’ meat is being sold,” he had alleged in the petition.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2015.