The butchers at the recently constructed modern abattoir at Yorogo in the Bolgatanga Municipality have been accused of working against the Operationalisation of the Gh1.2m facility .
Word Fm news reported on Saturday, 30th April 2022, that butchers were fetching water from a nearby dam to Treat their meat for the market due to shortage of water at the facility which was as result of lack of electricity power for the machines to pump water into the overhead water tank which supply water to workers at the place.
In an interview at his residence, the Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Rex Asanga explained that the shortage of water is as a result of a an electric fault which was caused by a broken electricity pole which supplied electricity to the facility by rainstorm.
Hon. Rex Asanga said the butchers who previously resisted their relocation to the new facility, have persistently refused to allow for the Operationalisation of the machines at the facility.
“The butchers have persistently refused to use the machines and so it’s a battle between the assembly and the butchers there. So if they are not using the machines and prefer to Slaughter the animals on the ground definitely what you saw there, is what is happening.”
Hon. Rex, said the assembly have been in a battle with the butchers for the past two weeks to train them to operationalise the machines and they almost beat the team that went there to train them on the use of the machines.
” The butchers have been refusing to use the machines. Maybe this is just two or three days of water shortage but over the past two weeks we have been battling to operationalise the machines. A team goes there to start the training of the butchers on the use of the machines and they almost beat them up. The engineer who came from Accra had to leave back to Accra, leaving only his son behind “
The MCE said if the butchers continue to resit the full operation of the facility, the assembly will have no option but to bring new people who have already applied to work at the abattoir to take over and use it.
” The assembly has interviewed some people who applied to use the facility when we advertised and so those are the options that we will start looking at. There are people who are anxious to use the place.
Mr. Ibrahim Osamn, a leader of the butchers has appealed to the assembly to allow them back to the old abattoir since they are facing some challenges at the new abattoir.
” They should open the old place for us to go and work so that the assembly will get revenue. We want to go back”
Reacting to the call, Hon. Rex said there is no way the assembly will allow them back to the old abattoir.
“If that is the plane they have, to make the current place difficult to operate so that they will not operate and go back to their old place, that one will not happen. So they better make sure that where they are, boperates because no one is going back to the old abattoir “
The Bolgatanga abattoir is one of the three only modern abattoirs in the country with these machines. The other two are at Accra and Kumasi.
By: Simon Agana Blessing/mywordfmonline.com