KATHMANDU: Animal Slaughterhouse and Meat Inspection Act 1998 is yet to be practised even when rumours about sale of meat from ill or dead animals abound. Dr Bodh Prasad Parajuli, senior official, Veterinary Public Health Office, Tripureshwor, said not a single clause of the Act had been implemented yet. “The consumers are forced to have substandard meat, which is harmful to their health,” he added. “About a dozen committees were formed to look into the matter but to no avail.” The Act provisions good status of slaughterhouse and meat shops, mandatory license from a government authority to sell meat, animals to be killed for meat only in slaughterhouses, health test of animals before slaughtering and hygiene test of meat, restriction on adulterated meat and sale of skinless meat only. “Aforementioned provisions are yet to be practised in the country,” Dr Parajuli, who is also a member of the Act Implementation Monitoring Committee, said. “A slaughterhouse was built in Hetauda six years ago but was never operated. The same was the case with two others established in Thankot and Kakani five years ago.” Manoj Khadgi, president, Nepal Khadgi Samaj Sewa (NKSS), said it was impossible to implement the law by the efforts of an individual or an institution. “All the stakeholders, including government authorities, should make coordinated efforts to check the malpractices,” he said. Khadgi said animals should be quarantined during import, kept in a hygienic setting before slaughtering.

Team formed

LALITPUR: Meat entrepreneurs have formed an executive committee to establish a cooperative before building a slaughterhouse in Kathmandu. The government, in its budget for the current fiscal, has planned to provide funds for such cooperatives. About 200 meat traders, who joined an interaction on ‘animal slaughterhouse site and meat market business promotion’ proposed a well-managed slaughterhouse for producing healthy meat. — HNS