Mayor Ubraj Narine yesterday called for an emergency meeting to discuss the planned relocation of the Municipal Abattoir.
He made the call at a statutory meeting of the city council.
The call came in the wake of a Stabroek News report on Wednesday about the current state of the abattoir on Water Street. Two years and five months after a crane belonging to John Fernandes Limited crashed into city’s abattoir, no slaughtering is occurring there. The abattoir is now being used for inspection and stamping of slaughtered meat only.
Butcher shops around Georgetown now have to go to abattoirs at Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara; Plaisance, East Coast Demerara and Blankenburg, West Coast Demerara to have animals slaughtered. Thereafter, they must travel to Water Street to have the meat inspected and stamped.
Butchers in interviews with Stabroek News described the process as time consuming, tiring and costly.
After the crane fell, repairs to the Water Street abattoir were completed in July of 2021 after which the Mayor made an announcement about plans to relocate it. It is unclear why the repairs did not lead to the restoration of slaughtering.
