A technical team recently travelled to Lipa City and Tanauan City, Batangas to benchmark the existing abattoir of the said cities in relation to the proposed put up of a state-of-the-art city abattoir within a portion of the land ceded to the city government by the agriculture department at the Baguio Dairy farm.
City Veterinarian Dr. Brigit Piok said that the team composed of technical personnel from the City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO), City Planning and Development Office, City Engineering Office (CEO), City Building and Architecture Office (CBAO) and City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) will be assessing which among the established abattoirs in the two cities could be replicated in the proposed city abattoir.
She stated that from the results of the visit, the technical personnel will then coordinate the preparation of the plans, specifications and estimates of the proposed city abattoir that will be submitted to the city’s local finance committee for the sourcing out of the funds needed in the construction of the slaughterhouse that will conform with the standards of the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong said the planned relocation of the city’s slaughterhouse from its present location to its proposed new site at the Baguio Dairy Farm will allow the city government to expand its operations thus improving its services to its clients.
He added that part of the component of the city’s abattoir will be a cold chain facility to ensure the freshness and quality of the meat products, aside from the same being used to preserve vegetables and possibly vaccines.
Earlier, the city government planned to relocate the city’s abattoir to a public land in Pinsao Proper but the same did not prosper because of the various issues concerning the property that will take some time resolved thus will eventually delay the realization of the project.
Under the present set up in the city’s abattoir, Piok claimed the facility is producing fresh meat for the local meat vendors which is allowed under existing laws, rules and regulations, provided that, the fresh meat should not exceed 8 hours in the market so as not to be contaminated by bacteria.
According to her, the city is also considering selling chilled meat thus part of the study by the team is to observe how the abattoir produces the chilled meat sold at the Lipa City Market.
The city government wants to transfer the abattoir to a more spacious area for concerned stakeholders to do their trade as the present site is already crowded that caused an outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) among a number of workers several months ago.
Piok expressed optimism on the realization of the planned transfer of the city’s abattoir to help the provision of better services to its growing number of clients. By Dexter A. See
