LAGOS DISLODGE ‘PONMO’ PROCESSORS IN OKO-OBA ABATTOIR
Commissioner for Agriculture in Lagos State Hon. Toyin Suarau has ordered the immediate dislodgement and closure of the Animal Skin (Ponmo) processing section of the abattoir as a result of the reported high volume of black smoke that arises from the processing. It must however be made cleared that the smoke does not necessarily arose from the burning of tyres but as a result of the large number of processors operating at that section at the same time. The use of tyres to process animal skin has been reported to the government years back and this has been dealt with long ago.
The Commissioner who led the taskforce team said government cannot compromise the health of the people, adding that the wellbeing of Lagosians is paramount to this administration, hence the closure.
He said that the Ministry of Agriculture has deployed reasonable number of veterinary officers and Animal Health workers to the abattoir to ensure animals slaughtered are of good health and safe for consumption while officials of Lagos State Waste Management Authority LAWMA and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency LASEPA are also on ground.
Reiterating government effort on the restructuring of the abattoir, Suarau said government is poised to re-backing the mechanized slaughtering of animals in the state.
‘’Currently the state government and stakeholders in the abattoir are putting heads together to fully harness the Eko Large Ruminant Animal Project to enhance the integration of cognate sub project such as feed milling operation to ensure timely availability of quality compound animal feeds in the desired quantity, animal slaughtering and processing, distribution and distribution and marketing processed beef’’ he said.
Speaking further, Suarau reaffirmed that, there is the growing recognition that the reform is desirable to meet the state mega city standard where the best practices of meat handling, environmental and facility hygiene is adopted to meet the international acceptable standard, thereby moving from the traditional way of slaughtering animals to a mechanized Abattoir will be fully utilized and pollution reduced.
‘’The reformation is focusing on solution in the areas of food security, facility, environmental hygiene and processing protection’’, he added.
Caption
Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon. Oluwatoyin Suarau led the team of Law Enforcement Agency to dislodge and close down the Animal skin (Ponmo) processing section in the Lagos Oko-Oba Abattoir, Agege.
