Saturday, May 24, 2008 Talisay gets extension for abattoir accreditation
THE Talisay City Government-run modern slaughterhouse will continue its normal operations as a double A-accredited facility.
In a press conference, Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) announced that the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) approved the request for a two-month extension of the abattoir’s double A status.
This means that all slaughtered livestock in Talisay can still be sold in Metro Cebu and anywhere in the country without fear of being confiscated and classified as “hot meat.”
NMIS Executive Director Jane Bacayo approved the request of Gullas for a two-month extension pending the City’s full compliance with the accreditation requirements.
Last November, the NMIS renewed the slaughter-house’s double A certificate on condition that it would comply with all the requirements within six months. The period for compliance had lapsed last Thursday.
An NMIS team conducted a surprise inspection of the facility last May 16 and directed the City to comply with another set of requirements.
The team reportedly found flaws on management practices, personnel’s hygiene and the facility’s regular pest control system.
It also has to improve its butchering equipment, ceiling, electrical wiring and water supply.
But City Hall received only last Tuesday an NMIS letter that listed all the new requirements for its compliance.
This gave the City only two days to meet the requirements, as the slaughter-house’s NMIS-issued double A accreditation would expire on May 22.
Last November, the City Hall beat the deadline set by the neighboring Cebu City, whose officials had warned that they would seize livestock slaughtered in Talisay.
Double A
The warning came after Cebu City learned that Talisay failed to renew the abattoir’s double A accreditation since it expired
in May 2006.
Talisay reportedly supplies about 60 to 70 percent of butchered livestock to Cebu City and the neighboring cities in Metro Cebu.
Gullas, the former mayor, blamed Mayor Socrates Fernandez for the non-renewal of the accreditation despite reminders from Director Romeo Capa of NMIS 7.
The P50-million facility, considered a modern abattoir in Cebu, was one of the major infrastructure projects of Gullas during his term as mayor.
It began operating in 2005.
In the same press conference, Gullas announced that he allocated P6 million from his congressional funds for some projects in Talisay.
“They can use the fund to improve the abattoir, but I’m giving them one month or less to comply with all the requirements,” he said.
Gullas pointed out, though, that Talisay City has never lacked funds because its internal revenue allotment (IRA) share this year has ballooned to P226 million from P163 million in his first year as city mayor in 2001.
Before it became a young component city in 2001, the former coastal town’s IRA share was only P55 million. (GC)
