Katima abattoir slaughters over 700 cattle in 4 weeks

KATIMA MULILO – The refurbished Katima Mulilo abattoir has slaughtered 732 cattle between 9 June and yesterday, while 660 more cattle are expected to be slaughtered by the end of this month.

“The abattoir is doing great. Although the facility is old and constantly breaks down, we fix things as we move on,” said Kingsley Kwenani, the CEO of Meatco’s newly-established subsidiary, the Meatco Northern Communal Area (Pty) Ltd. Meatco NCA (Pty) Ltd is 100% owned by Meatco.

Kwenani told New Era in Kavango East the mobile slaughter unit that is currently catering to farmers in both Kavango East and Kavango West regions is also doing well and has since February this year slaughtered about 440 cattle as they are slaughtering about 30 cattle per week due to the capacity of the facility.

“The mobile abattoir is stationed at Matumbo Ribebe quarantine camp in Kavango West,” he said.

Last July, Cabinet gave a directive to Meatco to cooperate with state-owned abattoirs and meat processing facilities, specifically the Rundu abattoir that was built by the ministry of agriculture with the aim of filling the gap and alleviate farmers’ distress of not having markets for their cattle.

Meatco was directed to also operationalise this abattoir.

To date, Meatco has operationalised the Katima Mulilo abattoir, which started with operations on 9 June. Meatco has also managed to secure west African markets where products from the NCA can now be sold.

The renovations and rebuilding of the Rundu abattoir, which is about to be handed over to the ministry, was initiated to meet specific operational standards.

Indications based on the site visit and update on the project is that the slaughtering area of the abattoir could be ready by next month. “With the Rundu abattoir, we are expecting to do a test slaughter somewhere in August and our target is to start operations in September or October. The abattoir is still not handed over to the ministry and it is still in the hands of the contractor,” Kwenani noted.

“But in terms of Meatco operating the abattoir, it has already been agreed with the ministry and we are just awaiting its completion.”