By William Isau
SIBU, March 21: Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) is currently fulfilling the eight conditions set by the State veterinary department for the re-opening of its abattoir after African Swine Fever (ASF) was detected on the premises in January.
Bukit Assek assemblyman Joseph Chieng, who accompanied officers from the veterinary department to check on the progress of work on the eight conditions today, said he will talk to the department about the re-opening of the abattoir.
The department was led by its assistant officer, Anthony Janggu.
The department had ordered the closure of the abattoir for 60 days commencing March 9 so as to allow for general cleaning to be carried out.
Among the eight conditions were removal of unwanted fruit trees, disposal of defective equipment, flushing of the pig pens using only treated water from the water board instead of river water, and plastering of pen walls.
“Once all the necessary work is done, checked and verified by the department, we hope it can be reopened as soon as possible. If it remains close, it will be a burden on pig farmers, pork sellers and restaurants. It also affects consumers,” Chieng said.
He added that the abattoir needs to re-open soon as those in the pork business need to earn a living also.
“It is rather unfortunate that ASF happened here but what we can do now is for all related agencies to work together to resolve it. We also hope that the government can provide financial aid to those affected,” he said.
The council, he said, will continue to do desludging work twice a month and to disinfect the pens regularly using chlorine dioxide.
The council had also discarded old and defective equipment on March 19 which were potential hiding spots for rats.
“It (council) is also using calcium hydroxide to do lime washing and chlorine dioxide to disinfect the abattoir,” he said.
Members of the Sibu Pork Dealers Association had on March 13 also carried out a ‘gotong-royong’ cleaning project at the abattoir. — DayakDaily
