SOME meat traders in Dar es Salaam have expressed
their disappointment over what they described to be a failure by the Dar es
Salaam City Council (DCC) to fulfill its long standing promise of constructing
a modern abattoir in order to enable them conduct slaughter activities in
hygienic environment. The call by meat traders has come hardly three weeks
after Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA) ordered an immediate closure of
two major slaughtering houses of Ukonga-Mazizini and that one of Vingunguti
owned by the Ilala Municipal Council in Dar es Salaam region. The authority’s
officials declared the two slaughtering houses as excessively dirty and
therefore posing a threat to the health of meat consumers in Dar es Salaam city
suburbs and its environs. Speaking in an exclusive interview mid this week in
Dar es Salaam meat traders said that, they are surprised to see no sign of
construction is being undertaken ever since the promise was made by the city
authorities fifteen years ago a situation that forces them to continue
slaughtering their cows in dilapidated abattoirs. Meat traders echoed their
grave concern when contacted by this paper with a view to find out their way
forward amid reported news that about 400 workers who earlier engaged their
activities at such slaughtering houses
have been rendered jobless. The Mazizini abattoir being the oldest facility was
designed to serve the Dar es Salaam residents whose population by then was
approximately less than 1 million people when it was built in 1972 and designed
to accommodate 50 cows per day compared to currently 300. In recent years, the facility has been facing
eminent closure for a number of times due to filthy surrounding its compound
which primarily is due to the increased number of cows being slaughtered per
day that do not match with the available infrastructure. Maurice Chacha, a
famous meat seller at Gongo La Mbotto market said that, as the population keeps
on increasing in Dar es Salaam city, there is a need for the government to look
for an appropriate ways in order to build a modern abattoir in the city. He is
of the view of the fact that, Dar es Salaam which is now growing into a
metropolitan city need to have a modern slaughtering facility in order to cope
with the increased demands to honour its status instead of depending on the
outdated ones. The Chairman of the Union of meat
sellers in Dar es Salaam, popularly known by its Kiswahili acronym ‘UWANJU’ Mr.
Clement Malijo said that, it’s high time to have a modern facility for a slaughter
house in the city of Dar es Salaam bearing in mind the fact that it is the
centre of the country’s business with many foreign dignitaries of various
levels. He wondered and said that, “it is really a shame to notice that,
over 50 years now since independence time, Dar es Salaam the main commercial
capital city once known as the Haven of
Peace is supplied with cow meat being slaughtered in dilapidated abattoirs
which are equipped with poor facilities that do not meet international
standards”.
He has however appealed to the government to ward off such a
shameful scenario in order to match with the current global technological changes.
However, he has called on the authorities concerned to look for a strategic
investor who would construct a modern abattoir if the government has failed to
do so. Just three weeks now after
the government closed down the two abattoirs, investigations by this paper has
discovered that, there is a sudden rise of meat prices in most Dar es Salaam
butcher shops operating in the city. Investigations shows that, the price of one kilogram of
an ordinary meat has risen by almost 20 percent from Sh. 5,000 to Sh. 6,000,
whereas that of a steak meat is now fetched at Sh. 7,500 from Sh. 6,500.
Investigations has further
discovered that, cow slaughters have shifted their operation to unauthorized
places whereby meat is not inspected according to the health meat supervisor Dr
Juma Nganyangi a situation is likely to pose health hazards to consumers.
Efforts to contact the DCC’ Information officer Gaston Makwembe to talk on the
progressive investments for a modern abattoir proved futile. But his aid who
spoke on the matter on strict anonymity said that, plans are still underway and
the feasibility study is complete. However he added that “the DCC is still looking a strategic investor who would
build the abattoir to serve meat consumers from three municipal councils of
Ilala, Temeke and Kinondoni as they are no longer able to afford the highly
expensive costs for a modern abattoir”. It can be recalled that,
fourteen years ago, the defunct Dar es Salaam City Commission which was charged
with revitalizing various cities’ economic and social development activities
had put in its long term strategic plans to construct a modern slaughter house
whose implementation up to now is not yet in place. Plans by the DCC had some
significance to cope with the growing trend of the population which currently
is estimated to be about 4.5 million people living in Dar es Salaam city and
its surrounding suburbs, also to have quality meat being supplied in hygienic
manner. The DCC’s initiated plans under the chairmanship of Charles Keenja as a
principal architect behind the move seems to be faltering and the successors of
the DCC which changed its operations in early 2000 and became Dar es Salaam
City Council controlling the three Municipal councils of Ilala, Temeke and
Kinondoni seemed to have put the plans in drawing boards. Statistics made
available by the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) on the investment matters, shows that among
the areas which is not properly invested is on modern abattoirs which have more
investment opportunities in the country. The Executive Director of Tanzania
Investment Centre Juliet Kairuki was recently quoted by the media as saying
that her centre is striving hard at least to get strategic investors in this
area for the city of Dar es Salaam so as to help meat traders in the city to
run smoothly with their daily operational activities. Currently
Tanzania has one modern abattoir in Arusha city which was built in
collaboration with the British government in mid 1990s. In Dar es Salaam city,
Vingunguti is the onlyn designated abattoir owned by the government while
others which are located in areas of Kimara, Mbagala and Tegeta suburbs are privately
owned.
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