Daily Times

LAHORE: The district administration and the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore (MCL) have failed to ensure the implementation of a new mechanism (cone system) for chicken slaughter, as meat sellers are still practicing the old unhygienic slaughtering system at the Ramazan bazaars established across the city, Daily Times has learnt.

The old practice of chicken slaughtering system was to be replaced with the new cone slaughtering system the implementation of which still seemed to be a far cry despite passage of 16 months since its introduction last year by the City District Government Lahore (CDGL).

Chicken sellers at almost all Ramazan bazaars are still slaughtering chicken manually and throwing it in a plastic drum by ignoring the basic hygiene standards.

Most of the chicken sellers slaughter a large quantity of chicken in advance and keeping them in the filthy drums to save time due to rush of customers in Ramazan.

Chicken sellers told Daily Times that they were using the newly introduced cone system. They admitted that they slaughter chicken in advance to save their and customers’ time during peak hours in Ramazan. They, however, added, “We are not selling sick or emaciated chicken meat to citizens; rather the purpose to slaughter chicken in advance is to provide swift service to consumers and save time.”

When contacted, official operators of Lahore Mayor Captain (r) Mubashir Javaid and Lahore Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sumair Ahmed Sayed said that their “bosses” could not receive telephone calls, as they were busy in other tasks.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) told Daily Times that the PFA teams on the directives of its Director General Noorul Ameen Mengal were fully active and performing their duties efficiently. “We have issued several warnings to chicken sale points and imposed heavy fines on them for not adopting cone-slaughtering system,” he said.

Citizens also told Daily Times that a majority of people were unaware of the new slaughtering system and shopkeepers were taking the advantage of the situation. They said the government should educate the citizens before introducing a new system. They said that the officials concerned should force shopkeepers to display the chart about the hygienic slaughtering system.