Locals worried over sorry state of Hoima City abattoir

Residents of Kiryatete in Hoima City neighbouring the abattoir, are asking  authorities to close the facility for operating under filthy conditions.

The locals say they are faced with  stench, running through the community, something that puts their lives at risk of contracting diseases like cholera.

About 200 meters off Hoima-Fort highway in Kiryatete village, is where the city abattoir is located.

Cows and goats are slaughtered on a bare dirty ground, something that exposes the meat to poor hygiene.

Peter Mayanja, the Kiryatete parish NRM chairman says, they have complained about the state of the abattoir and the smell it has to the community but the city leadership is yet to respond.

"The abattoir is in a sorry state, imagine the meat people in Hoima eat comes from such a facility. The situation is  always worse whenever it rains as the waste runs to the community since the abattoir is on a raised ground,"  Mayanja said.

Raphael Kusemerwa, the Rusaka Upper LCI chairman notes that for people that have visited Kiryatete and seen the state of the facility, they gave up on meat .

"I believe those who  eat meat in Hoima do so because they don't know where it comes from. I know  there are people who love beef so much, but  a number of them no longer eat it after seeing the situation of the facility where the beef is slaughtered from. These say they will never eat meat again,"Kusemerwa said.

Mayanja is  appealing to the city leadership to ensure that they expedite the process of a new facility being constructed in Butema.

"Our people have suffered enough. This facility should have been closed 20 years ago. It is not that the people  don't like development but the facility is  in a sorry state."

John Bosco Muhanuzi, the Hoima City East Mayor confirmed that the abattoir is in a sorry state to the extent that big hotels, and oil companies operating in Kikuube and Buliisa no longer buy beef from  Hoima but rather Kampala.

"Actually our abattoir  was condemned by the Ministry of Health in 2009 due to hygiene but we had not got money to have a better facility until the coming of USMID."

Muhanuzi however, says their newly constructed abattoir has been delayed by some components like the waste site, where animals can be treated, which the contractor had not considered but very essential.

"The president was supposed to come and commission it, but a delegation from Kampala came and inspected then advised that there were some components that were missing that had to be fixed. Once they are complete, we will invite him or any delegate he will send to come and commission. We will then work on a plan to relocate from the current abattoir to a new one," Muhanuzi said.