Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine on Monday announced that there are plans to relocate the Georgetown Municipal Abattoir.
Narine made the disclosure at a press conference held at his office.
Narine said following the incident in February of 2020, which left the abattoir out of operation, the City Council began engaging in discussions to relocate the facility.
He explained that the repair work now being completed is a temporary fix and that a plan for relocation is expected to be submitted to his office shortly. He explained that the council did not want to make an announcement about the relocation of the facility without a plan or before everything was finalised.
He added that the council is of the opinion that the current Water Street facility will be an area for the oil and gas sector in the future.
He said that while there is a proposed site for relocation of the abattoir, he will not disclose further details until the committee has finalised everything.
Narine’s comments came in light of a criticism made by a citizen, Deodarie Putulall, in a letter published in the Stabroek News on July 14th, 2021.
Putulall expressed disappointment in the “very basic and stopgap repairs being done to the building.”
The letter stated that “the floor needs to be ripped up and re-laid to remove those cracks and holes that encourage the growth of microorganisms. The current old concrete floor cannot even take the pressure of falling animals, some weighing as much as eight hundred pounds. The gates securing the pens of the lairage, where animals are placed approximately 24 hours before being slaughtered are all broken and or severely damaged with rails etc. missing. The lairage has no sheds to protect the animals from harsh weather conditions such as currently being experienced, another abominable state of affairs.”
It added: “The Abattoir is also in dire need of plumbing fixtures. They need modern scales to weigh the animals, better water supply, a pig de-hairing machine and the list goes on.”
Stabroek News previously reported that the ongoing repairs at the abattoir are expected to be completed by July.
In late February of last year, a crane belonging to John Fernandes Limited damaged sections of the abattoir. Repairs to the building began months after the boom of the crane collapsed onto the abattoir, resulting in damage to the roof, walls and windows of the kitchen area.
Narine and a team from the Mayor and City Council recently visited the area and expressed satisfaction with the progress made thus far.
Following the accident, the Mayor and City Council had met with John Fernandes Limited to find a way forward and have the building repaired. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the repair works had been signed between the Council and John Fernandes.
Shortly after the abattoir sustained the damage, the council had implemented measures to ensure that meat entering the markets was safe for human consumption.
