Sunyani butchers reject new slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse constructed by the Sunyani Municipal Assembly to serve Sunyani and its surrounding communities has been abandoned by members of the Brong Ahafo Butchers Association.
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About a year after its inauguration, the butchers have refused to use the facility, citing the poor nature of the road to the area, lack of toilet facility and the claim that a borehole sunk as part of the project was not hygienic for use as reasons for their refusal to patronise the facility.
Located at Asuakwaa, a suburb of Sunyani, the facility, which was constructed at a cost of about GH¢161, 000, has now been taken over by weeds with erosion eating deep around it.
The slaughterhouse was funded through the Urban Development Grant (UDG) and has changing rooms, a wash- room, hooks for hanging slaughtered animals, slabs and offices among other features.
Old slaughterhouse
For years, the people of Sunyani had to endure the services of butchers operating from an old dilapidated slaughterhouse.
The old slaughterhouse, situated at the Bosoma Market, has inadequate water while animals are slaughtered on the floor, with a poor drainage system that leaves the area emitting an offensive odour.
From this dilapidated facility, meat is conveyed in wheelbarrows and on trucks to the market due to the lack of hygienic vans.
It is disheartening to see people with dirty attires sitting on the meat that is conveyed in the trucks to the main market for sale to the public.
Residents
People living near the old facility have had to live with the pungent smell in addition to the invasion of flies, mosquitos, rodents and reptiles as a result of the poor environment.
Sometimes, residents had to mobilise themselves to clear the choked gutters or contribute money to pay some people to clean the gutters.
Some residents who spoke to the Daily Graphic expressed their gratitude to the Sunyani Municipal Assembly for constructing the new slaughterhouse with all the necessary facilities for the slaughtering of animals under a hygienic environment.
They, however, expressed unhappiness that members of the Brong Ahafo Butchers Association had refused to use the new facility.
Chief Butcher
The Chief Butcher of Sunyani, Alhaji Gansu Abdullai, alleged that the borehole fixed for the new facility produced unhygienic water.
He added that the facility had no toilet while the access road to the site was in bad shape, making movement difficult.
Alhaji Abdullai said he formally complained to the immediate past municipal administration, but they did not pay attention to his concerns.
He said plans were underway to make a fresh complaint to the new administration of the assembly and expressed the hope that their challenges would be addressed this time.
Alhaji Abdullai promised that if the challenges were addressed, members of the association would relocate to the new facility and stop operating from the old one.
Visit
Contrary to the claim by the butchers, when the Daily Graphic visited the new slaughterhouse, it was observed that the road to the place was in good shape and was being used by motorists.
There was also a toilet facility inside the block with a borehole on the premises to provide water for the users of the facility.
Information gathered by the paper also indicated that the butchers rejected the new facility due to its location outside Sunyani.
Transporting meat from the old slaughterhouse in Sunyani to the market, according to them, was easier.