Butchers in Bolga lay down tools, refuse to relocate

Butchers and meat sellers at the Bolgatanga Abattoir Wednesday laid down their tools to protest the pressure from the Municipal Assembly to relocate to Yorogo, a new abattoir built by the Assembly.

The butchers said the relocation would affect their businesses considering the distance from the livestock market to the Yorogo abattoir.

The Bolgatanga Abattoir, however, is under lock and key and the Chief Butcher, Mr Kologdoo Kolog, said the more than 500 workers would not work until it was opened.

Meanwhile their action has stalled operations of food vendors, restaurants and chops bars in the Municipality among other stakeholders who patronised meat products for business and consumption.

The Municipal Assembly gave December 15, 2021 as the deadline for relocation upon negotiations with the butchers, a process, which started under the then Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Joseph Atura Amiyuure.

However, the Assembly, under the new MCE, Mr Rex Asanga, extended the deadline to Tuesday, January 18, 2022 but the butchers have resisted and laid down their tools.

Mr Kolog, the Chief Butcher, had explained to the Ghana News Agency that moving the abattoir to Yorogo was a challenge to the butchers.

“How do we buy a cow from the market here, transport it to Yorogo to slaughter and return to sell the meat in the market here?” he queried.

He mentioned transportation cost among other charges and said it was an expensive move and they could not sustain it.

Mr Evans Bonaah, the Municipal Environmental Officer, told the GNA in an interview that several engagements were held, last year, with the butchers to arrive at the new date yet they continued to find ways to resist the relocation.

“15th December was given as deadline and later changed to 18 January but the butchers continue to come back with excuses,” he said.

Mr Bonaah said sanitation and veterinary services had been withdrawn from the Bolga Abattoir to the new site as agreed upon in the last meeting so the butchers had no option but to move.

A lot of funds had gone into the building of the new abattoir, he said, and expressed the hope that a meeting would be held again to convince the butchers to relocate.