DAD EYES CLOSURE OF MANDAUE ABATTOIR
Councilor Del Mar says facility is not earning and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources found several violations in the slaughterhouse’s operations.
The Mandaue City Government’s slaughterhouse may be soon be closed.
This is because the facility has not been generating income and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 noted violations in its operations.
A proposed ordinance closing the abattoir was filed by Councilor Carmelino Del Mar Jr. during the City Council’s regular session last Wednesday.
“The slaughterhouse, as a local economic enterprise, has been losing in its operation for a considerable length of time. Thus, it is the objective of this ordinance to close the said slaughterhouse... and resort to a remedy that the City of Mandaue can earn from the closure or other remedies that the law provides,” the proposed measure states.
Del Mar said a study was conducted about the state of the facility, which is located in Barangay Labogon.
“The result of the study was that the abattoir is not generating income,” he said.
He said this may be because of the presence of privately-owned abattoirs, which are more accessible and have better facilities.
The Environmental Management Bureau 7, he said, also sent a report to City Hall about the facility’s operations last Sept. 1.
The report states that the facility has no wastewater treatment facility.
Its management also failed to submit quarterly self-monitoring reports and renew the discharge permit, which should have been made at least one month before the expiration date.
“The City is looking for ways to maintain the operation of the slaughterhouse. One of the means being considered is privatization. But in the meantime, we have no choice but to close or else we will be penalized by DENR,” the councilor said.
Del Mar then told the legislative body that a slaughterhouse is among the basic facilities that the council has the power to establish or close pursuant to the Local Government Code.
If the proposed ordinance will be approved, the councilor said only the abattoir’s operations will be stopped but the management’s function to regulate the market of livestock in the city will continue. /