Mawlai abattoir not ready

SHILLONG, MAR 3: The much-talked about abattoir of the Meghalaya animal husbandry and veterinary department at Mawlai Mawiong is far from ready to slaughter animals.

This was revealed by a group of stakeholders of the abattoir while speaking to journalists today. The stakeholders include those who are currently engaged in manually slaughtering cows, pigs and goats for selling them in the open market.

“We were surprised to read a newspaper report suggesting that the abattoir at Mawiong is ready for inauguration and that people have already been trained to handle the machines at the slaughter house,” William Diengdoh, a representative from the meat processing industry, said.

He said that the stakeholders, who are notified members of the interim management committee of the abattoir, have no knowledge about the training, which was claimed to have been imparted.

At the same time, he said that during the last 10 days, trial runs have been conducted at the abattoir. But to the disappointment of the stakeholders, Diengdoh said the machines were not up to the optimum.

“I had taken a cow for the trial run to the abattoir, but sadly, I had to use my own equipment as most of the machines are not ready,” Kitbok Mylliemumlong, a representative of the butchers’ association, said.

Moreover, Diengdoh said that most of the requisite machines, which are Chinese-made, have not been put in place at the abattoir.-By Our Reporter