Mr Abubaka Ibrahim, the newly inaugurated Secretary for the Federal Capital Territory Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat has cautioned slaughterhouses against the use of tyres to roast slaughtered animals.
Ibrahim issue the warning when he undertook a visit to the Kubwa Abattoir on Wednesday, in Abuja, a day after his inauguration by the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello.
He urged butchers to be conscious of the health risks associated with such practice and encourage them to make use of gas blowers.
He explained that the visit of the abattoir was in line with the matching order to mandate secretaries to advance people-centred policies of the administration.
Ibrahim also said the visit would enable him have first hand assessment of the state of the abattoir, noting it needed to be standardised to operate in line with standards befitting of the status of the FCT.
” We will ensure that the livestock sector runs effectively to meet the increasing demand for beef-cow meat.
” We will invest in animal genetics, in artificial insemination and modernise our abbatoirs in the FCT.
” The livestock sector constitutes a significant part of the agriculture sector contributing around 1.7 per cent to Nigerian Gross Domestic product and about nine per cent to the Agricultural value chain,” he said.
He expressed concern over the state of facilities and services at kubwa slaughter slabs and envisioned proper and modern abbatoir and meat haulage system.
” This visit is part of effort by the FCTA to ensure the availability of whole some meat for the FCT populace.”
He said that the FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, had expressed concerns over the state of facilities and services at the various slaughter slabs across the FCT.
“The whole world is grappling with the devastating effects of diseases and we can not afford to expose our people to the risk of the diseases.
” We have to start making changes to ensure that we upgrade our facilities with focus on enforcement and hygienic practices, ” he said.
The secretary urged them to take advantage of the expertise in the Veterinary Services Department to ensure that the aspects of meat inspection disease reporting and control were effectively handled.
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