Anambra State Governor Obiano
By Sunny A. David, Nnewi
About three illegal and unapproved slaughter houses allegedly operate in Nnewi, selling unhygienic meat to unsuspecting consumers.
Newly elected Chairman of Nkwo Nnewi Butchers Association, Mr. Kirian Okafor revealed this known in an interview with newsmen on the activities and problems of the butchers.
He was elected last June to pilot the affairs of the association for the next four years after the successful tenures of Chief Amobi Nnoruka.
According to Mr. Okafor, the government should investigate the locations of those unapproved slaughter houses with a view to clamping down on them to sanitize meat business and ensure the credibility of the dealers.
The Chairman named the government approved slaughter areas as the ones located at Nkwo Nnewi, Obinsoedo Okpunoegbu and Oyeagbo.
Mr. Okafor said that those three locations were still battling to meet up with required standards with the help of the government and wondered how the unapproved slaughter houses could cope in terms of standard.
He said that his association is ready to assist the government in sanitizing the system if given the power for the interest of meat consumers.
He explained that the association discovered that some of the meat dealers even slaughtered animals at their houses where nobody inspected the sanitary condition and brought the meat to buyers.
According to Mr. Okafor, veterinary doctors always come around before any cow could be slaughtered at Nkwo Nnewi slaughter house to ensure that the animal was fit for human consumption, a situation he said was not observed at the unauthorized slaughter places.
The Chairman said that the government should take a critical look at the activities of the butchers operating at illegal slaughter houses to save meat consumers from health hazards.
Mr. Okafor, however, appealed to the government to fulfill its promise of building a modern slaughter house for butchers at Nkwo Nnewi as done in Awka, having taken the measurements of Nkwo Nnewi’s slaughter house.
He said at the moment the association has tried as much as possible on a daily basis to keep the existing slaughter house at Nkwo Nnewi clean and appealed to the government to assist them with high capacity power generator to easily access water needs from the borehole.
Mr. Okafor also said that for over a long period of time, the meat dealers had no toilet facility and access road to the market place.
The Association Chairman said that the executive had been receiving promises from the government over its demand for those facilities and appealed for their fulfillment.
The Chairman said that his administration would focus on peace and dedication to God to achieve a sustainable development.
