We kill animals at the abattoir in barbaric ways

May 22, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
I believe most Guyanese welcome wholeheartedly, the creation of new shopping centers and malls around Georgetown and beyond. It adds a new shopping experience that we only enjoy when we travel overseas. Of particular delight has been the establishment of modern, spacious and well lit supermarkets that contain cutting edge bakeries, butcheries and delicatessens, where one can obtain their treats from the oven, fresh meats and precooked meals.
But there remains one sore issue that continues to undermine all of these advances and that is the dilapidated state of the Municipal Abattoir in Water Street, and the unhygienic and barbaric methods used to slaughter the animals, the meat of which is supplied to these very state of the art butcheries and supermarkets.
Indeed as a butcher myself, I say that it makes little or no sense for the owners of these modern supermarkets and butcheries to expend tens of millions of dollars installing stainless steel meat processing centers, in the hiring of master butchers etc when the Georgetown Municipality refuses to upgrade or even rehabilitate its Abattoir that has responsibility for slaughtering animals entering the city for meat processing.
Because of the sad state of the facility, on occasion animals would escape and jump into the Demerara River or make a dash for their lives down Water Street, much to the dismay of passers-by and nearby store owners. The methods used to slaughter the animals are similar to those used by the Vikings in times past. The facility is always without the requisite cleaning agents, causing the walls and floors where these animals are dragged, to be in a state that leaves it to be desired.
There is always a foul smell present as the disposal of waste is always done unhygienically. Water requirements are woefully inadequate as the main pipeline does not have the required pressure of 20 psi. The boiler for the hot water for cleaning- which needs to be at least 82p C is all but dead.
Instead of building useless Presidential Parks, jetting first class around the globe, hiring contractors to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars to brush cut parapets, building housing schemes for a select few of their workers, hosting meaningless PR programmes such as ‘Georgetown on the Move’ etc, why does the Council not tear down that old Abattoir and construct a modern facility in the interest of food safety and the well-being of the citizens?
Mark Roopan

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