Meat-market manoeuvring: Slaughterhouse plan butchered

Temporary facility to be set up as original plan faces delay due to lack of funds.

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) will set up a temporary slaughterhouse in Islamabad. This was decided in a meeting between CDA high officials and representatives of the Jamiatul Quresh after the original plan of setting up the facility was delayed.

The slaugherhouse was initially going to be established on more than 10 acres of land in sector H-9. Talking to The Express Tribune, CDA Chairperson Imtiaz Inayat Elahi said that the civic body had shortlisted five proposals (out of the original 12) from interested firms for establishing a slaughterhouse in the city, which is going to be constructed on a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. BOT will allow the winning firm to finance, design, construct and operate the facility. Elahi said the proposals were being evaluated.

Meanwhile the civic body would establish a temporary slaughterhouse keeping in mind its dire need in the city.

He added that besides the difficulties being faced by the butchers, the city was being polluted in the absence of such a facility. The temporary slaughterhouse will be established at an appropriate site and later shifted to H-9 once the main building is completed, Elahi said.

Presently there are 620 meat shops in the city to cater to a population of more than 1.5 million people. The non-availability of a slaughterhouse in Islamabad means that meat has to be brought in from Rawalpindi, which adds to the cost.  Thus it is sold at an inflated rate (20 per cent), when compared to other cities. Beef and mutton are sold at Rs50 to Rs60 higher than their actual price respectively.

Representatives of the Jamiatul Quresh have offered to contribute for the establishment of the facility as their business is “suffering badly” in the absence of this facility. Butchers said the availability of a state-of-the-art slaughterhouse would not only provide meat at a reasonable rate in the city, but would also ensure a hygienic product.

Official sources said that Elahi directed the concerned officials in the meeting to expedite the process and coordinate with the representatives of Jamiatul Quresh, so that the project could be completed at the earliest.

A senior official of CDA said that around Rs1 billion would be spent on the project. He added that modern sheds, slaughtering halls and medical laboratory would be set up in the facility.

President Jamiatul Quresh Khurshid Qureshi said that his association’s proposal for a temporary slaughterhouse had already been approved by the authority’s chairperson. The temporary arrangement will be set up for 620 butchers of Islamabad until the mega project is completed.

He admitted that meat
was being sold at a higher price in the capital due to the absence of a slaughterhouse. Qureshi was also of the view that offal was wasted, which could be exported if there was a proper slaughterhouse facility in the city.

He said, “Wastage of offal not only causes financial loss, but also leads to environmental pollution in the city.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2010.