In its drive to address the deplorable state of most of the abattoirs and slaughter slabs in the country, the Federal Government has expressed its readiness to enact necessary legislation to regulate their operations.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Shehu Ahmed made the disclosure while handing over the rehabilitated Lafia Modern Abattoir in Lafia to Nasarawa state Government on behalf of the Federal Government.
Dr. Ahmed disclosed that the Federal Government had commenced the process to put in place legislations in form of Meat Hygienic Act to regulate the nation’s abattoirs with a view to ensuring the supply of wholesome meat and meat products for public consumption.
He urged state governments to compliment efforts of the Federal Government by enforcing the operation of their states’ meat edicts.
The Permanent Secretary noted with displeasure that most of the abattoirs and slaughter slabs in the country are in deplorable state and do not meet the minimum operating standards to guarantee food safety.
The said the Federal government in his readiness to address the situation made budgetary provision to upgrade facilities in some selected abattoirs to meet the minimum operating standards and encourage state governments to do same to other abattoirs in their respective states.
The Permanent Secretary who was represented by the Director, Veterinary and Pest Control Services Department in the Ministry, Dr. Gideon Mshelbwala implored Nasarawa state government, one of the beneficiaries of the project to always manage operations of the rehabilitated abattoir along the complete value chain of the abattoir management processes including waste management.
“It is expected that the state government gives the maintenance of the facilities a top most priority in order to achieve the desired objective of providing safe and wholesome meat for public consumption. We also urge the state government to consider and enter into partnership with private investors in the spirit of Public Private Partnership to manage and operate the abattoir in line with best global practices for sustainability and improved revenue generation to the state government”, he stated.
The Permanent Secretary reiterated that the Federal Government would continue to partner with state governments and other interested investors in abattoir development in order to improve food safety in the country.
In his keynote address, the Commissioner, Nasarawa state Ministry of Agriculture, Muhammad Jamil Zakari, expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for the kind gesture, saying “We will always be thankful for the intervention”.
According to the Commissioner “abattoir of this magnitude is very important with the prevalence of diseases associated with the processing of meat”.
He however urged butchers in the state to put the structure into proper use under a very good hygienically condition.
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