Residents express concern over lack of water in Kuje

Meat consumers in Kuje Area Council of the FCT have raised concerns over the use of stream water for washing of meat in the council’s abattoir.

Some of the consumers who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kuje yesterday blamed the reliance on stream water by the abattoir operators to lack of potable water.

A correspondent of NAN who visited the abattoir reports that the slaughter house was being operated without any functional borehole.

Some of the abattoir operators were seen washing meat in the stream as well as using tyres for roasting of the meat.

Mr Adekunle Ajayi, a resident said the use of stream water for washing meat and tyres for roasting was not healthy for human consumption.

Ajayi said the slaughtering of animals without good source of water for washing the meat was unhealthy, adding that the use of dirty stream water as alternative could worsen the situation.

He called on the relevant authorities to fix the broken down borehole in the abattoir to save the lives of consumers from diseases that could be avoided.

“The state of the abattoir as you can see is not healthy because in the first instance, there is no water to wash the slab after use.

“It is not healthy using stream water to wash meat for human consumption because the water is flowing from places where it has been messed up.

“People defecate and throw all manner of things inside the water before getting to where it is being used for washing of meat for human consumption,” he said.

Mrs Esther Okoro, another meat consumer in the area lamented the use of motorcycles to convey meat from the abattoir to the market.

Okoro said the use of motorcycles to convey meat to market was not healthy and advocated for the use of vans in the interest of the health of consumers.

“As it is, it will be difficult for a van to get to the abattoir because of the deplorable state of the road and I am sure that is why the operators have resorted to the use of motorcycles,” she noted.

One of the operators who pleaded for anonymity told NAN that good access road and portable water had been major problems facing the operation of the abattoir.

He said the reliance on stream water for washing of meat was as a result of the breakdown of the only borehole in the abattoir.

He said the borehole had been in a bad state for over five years adding that successive administrations of the council had failed to fix it. (NAN)