KMC move to maintain meat quality

KATHMANDU: Following frequent failures to regulate meat shops in the city, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has come up with another effort to control the shops. There are about 4 million people in the Kathmandu Valley and a majority of them are non-vegetarian.

Ganesh Rai, acting executive chief at the KMC, said meat inspectors will be appointed within a month and monitoring teams led by ward secretaries will be assigned in the field.

“We are planning to come up with some resolutions to maintain quality of meat in the market within a month,” Rai said. “The majority of meat shops are of low standards and

serve substandard meat,” he said, adding, “we

will make an arrangement for healthy slaughterhouses in the city.”

A slaughterhouse was built at Thankot about six years ago but it never came into use.

The Meat Inspection Act 2055BS has not been implemented yet, utterly

neglecting the public health. “There are many files regarding decisions on meat regulation that

are rotting on the shelves,” Rai admitted.

Dr Babu Ram Gautam, chief at the Public Health Department at KMC and head of the Meat Inspection Act 2055BS Monitoring Committee, said that meat of animals, which die while they are brought to the capital, were found

to be sold in the market. “We are committed to

implementing the law and opening slaughterhouses for quality meat,” he said. “The shops selling substandard meat will maintain quality or will be closed,” he warned.

Meat Entrepreneurs’ Promotion Cooperatives Limited (MEPCL) has

recently been established in the initiation of the

KMC in order to regulate the meat market and build slaughterhouses and

model meat shops in Kathmandu Valley.

Dinesh Sahi, chairman of the MEPCL, said the budget allocated for controlling the meat market was misused earlier. “Individuals used the amount and grants from the KMC and the government and spent on their will. Therefore, the cooperative has been established to use the money properly,” he added.

According to Sahi, there are about 15,000 meat shops in the Valley. Sahi said that they have

proposed five slaughterhouses in the valley. One each in Bhaktapur, Chapagaon, Luvu, Hyumat and Kirtipur.

“The construction of slaughterhouse at Hyumat has been completed. It will be brought into use within 45 days,” he said.

Five model meat shops are already set up at Nakkhu in Lalitpur. One model shop will be established in the 35 wards of KMC soon and other shops will be maintained meeting the quality of the model ones,” he assured.