Joseph Mujasi, the chairman of Sanga abattoir, expressed that providing an upgraded facility with modern machines without training the workers on how to use them was a waste of time. He noted that the contractor had installed short rails that animals could easily jump over and had not provided water reservoirs to clean the meat during slaughtering.
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Minister Bright Rwamirama and the Kiruhura MPs take a tour of the Slaughter Facility~1
Cattle and beef traders from Sanga Town Council, supported by the Town Council leadership, have criticized the contractor of the 600 million shillings upgraded slaughter facility for providing an inefficient machine.
Safari Mujuni, the Mayor of Sanga Town Council, stated that the facility was inefficient and time-wasting, failing to meet the expectation of slaughtering many animals quickly.
"We slaughter between 20 and 30 animals a day. We expected to start slaughtering about 80 animals in three hours, but we have failed. We slaughter one animal in two hours. This is disappointing," said Mujuni. He criticized the contractor for not involving stakeholders and using the old slaughtering foundation for the new facility, which contradicted the design and bills of quantity.
Joseph Mujasi, the chairman of Sanga abattoir, expressed that providing an upgraded facility with modern machines without training the workers on how to use them was a waste of time. He noted that the contractor had installed short rails that animals could easily jump over and had not provided water reservoirs to clean the meat during slaughtering.
During a tour of the facility on Saturday, Bright Rwamirama, the State Minister of Animal Husbandry, acknowledged the abattoir's challenges, including an inefficient design. He noted that despite these challenges, the operators and beneficiaries were resistant to learning.
Rwamirama highlighted that the issues were noticed at the start of the project when it was discovered that the contractor was only making repairs and not expanding the facility. He instructed the contractor to take the correct course of action and cautioned that if the beneficiaries did not want to use the facility, it would be relocated elsewhere.
Dr. Martin Kasirye Sseruwagi, the Commissioner in charge of the project, stated that the issue with the machine was the size of the rails and that horizontal rails needed to be installed to prevent the animals from escaping. He acknowledged the need to train the beneficiaries on how to use the machines and confirmed an agreement with the contractor to install a 10,000-liter water tank.
On the issue of time spent slaughtering, Kasirye explained that every operator in the facility would be stationed in one position, waiting to perform specific tasks during the slaughtering process, rather than one person performing all tasks alone. He noted that at least 23 people were registered to train in the slaughtering process using the new machine.
Minister Rwamirama emphasized that if the contractor failed to provide training, he would be blacklisted and reported to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA).
In the meantime, Hon. Wilson Kajwengye, the Member of Parliament for Nyabushozi County, announced that the district leadership had passed a resolution making it mandatory to vaccinate livestock every six months against foot-and-mouth disease, ticks, and tick-borne diseases. This decision aims to facilitate the export of quality meat and milk to external markets.
The project, under the Market-Oriented and Environmentally Sustainable Beef Meat Industry (MOBIP) 2013, aims to improve the main abattoirs across the cattle corridor. The goal is to upgrade the current slaughter slabs to allow cattle traders and butchers to transport meat to a wider market, thereby increasing their gains.
