Slaughter house excites meat sellers

Meat sellers in Nkhata Bay District have expressed excitement with the construction of a slaughter house, saying it will boost their trade.

In an interview on Tuesday, Nkhata Bay District Butchers’ Association chairperson Phillip Kavuli said the structure will promote hygiene, thereby winning the confidence of customers. 

He said: “We have stayed over 10 years without a slaughtering slab in the district. This negatively affected our business because there was no observance of hygiene and eventually we lost customers.

“This slaughtering slab will help us to regain trust from our customers because we will have clean meat and also help most meat sellers to be certified.”

Kavuli said their problems are worse during the rainy season because they slaughter animals in the open.

In a separate interview, Nkhata Bay district animal health and livestock development officer James Mzere said the council constructed a modern slaughter house at Nkhata Bay Boma to improve hygiene in livestock slaughtering places.

He said: “Construction works are at an advanced level and is expected to be completed by the end of May this year.

“The facility will be connected with running water, an office and an inspection ladder.”

Mzere said currently, the council is struggling to collect revenue from meat sellers, as such, everyone will pay their fees at the slaughter house.

In random interviews, residents commended the council for constructing the facility.

One of the residents Judith Manda said it was important for authorities to ensure that meat sellers get their animals slaughtered at the facility.

“The importance of the facility is that it will check the conditions of animals before slaughtering them. This means sick animals will not be entertained,” she said.

The slaughter house, being financed through District Development Fund, is constructed at Kalwe in Traditional Authority Mkumbira and it is expected to benefit about 3 000 businesspersons.