Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Mayor acts on slaughterhouse problem
MAYOR Jerry P. Treñas is fielding elements of the city police mobile group from the Tacas road going to the new slaughterhouse to stop pilferage of hogs parts slaughtered at the Double A city abattoir.
The mayor's action stemmed from complaints of some meat vendors at the central and terminal markets in Iloilo City regarding the loss of slaughtered hog parts.
The vendors complained that the hogs lost some parts of the intestines, liver, and blood that are saleable items aside from the meat.
The central market vendors also said their own butchers should be allowed to slaughter their own pigs and deliver the carcass to the market.
Treñas said that in a meeting at his office with market-in-charge Vincent de la Cruz, they arrived at a consensus that market meat vendors shall have a representative at the slaughterhouse every night to oversee the release of cleaned hogs.
City veterinarian Tomas Forteza will have to check how many cleaned hogs were released every day to the market vendors, including the innards and other parts.
Treñas said he has already instructed the police mobile group to secure the area after receiving reports that some persons are blocking the road and demanding hog parts.
The new slaughterhouse is more than two kilometers away from the main road of the Jaro district.
The city mayor also said the street going to and from the slaughterhouse is now fully illuminated with street lamps to deter pilfering and hijacking of released slaughtered hogs.
The new slaughterhouse has a nightly capacity of more than 200 hogs, and some of the hog owners want their own butchers to clean most of the hogs. The city is still waiting for assistance from the agriculture department to finance a cattle-line so that all animals will be slaughtered in one slaughterhouse.
So far, the big animals such as cattle and carabaos are still slaughtered at the old slaughterhouse in San Jose, Molo district.
Treñas said that with the approval soon of some P11-million grant from the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (Acef) of the agriculture department, Iloilo City will set up the cattle-line at the new slaughterhouse and buy two delivery vans to service the meat vendors at the city public markets. (Lydia C. Pendon)
