NAN-H-36
Closure
Calabar, April 13, 2017 (NAN) The Cross River Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Prof. Anthony Eneji, has directed closure of all unapproved slaughter slabs in the state with immediate effect.
Eneji, who gave the directive in Calabar on Thursday, said that the closure became necessary to ensure safe and healthy practices in the slaughter slabs.
He expressed dismay at the rate at which individuals and groups set up slaughter slabs without endorsement by the Ministry’s Veterinary Department.
‘’This is unhealthy; people can be exposed to major health risks if such slaughter slabs are allowed to continue to operate,’’ he said.
The official said that the state-owned abattoir, located at Ikot Eneobong, and government-owned slaughter slabs were safe and functional.
According to him, the slabs have veterinary staff to ascertain the health of animals before their killing.
The commissioner appealed to private individuals to promote safe practices in abattoirs by providing hygienic vehicles to convey meat from the state abattoir to markets.
He condemned transportation of meat from abattoirs in passenger vehicles, saying that this could expose meat to disease vectors such as flies and dust.
Eneji said that it was the responsibility of veterinarians to inspect and certify meat safe for consumption before transportation to markets.
He said that veterinary staff from the ministry had been deployed in all slaughter slabs in parts of the state to ensure that dead and infected animals would not be consumed.
Eneji said that tuberculosis and tapeworm infection, among other diseases in animals, could cause food poisoning detrimental to human health.
He said that the ministry was making efforts to acquire a place to set up a goat slaughter house to ensure that all meat available in markets in the state would undergo proper inspection.
The commissioner directed the ministry’s Livestock Department to apprehend operators of illegal slaughter slabs, especially in Calabar. (NAN)
BEN/MOL/IGO
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Ijeoma Popoola