By Clive Simpson and Adrian Frater, Staff ReportersWESTERN BUREAU:
THE ST. James Parish Council is in need of $1.75 million to complete upgrading of the Montego Bay Abattoir, which was ordered closed by the St. James public health authorities over six months ago.
Following a meeting between the St. James Health Department, the Western Regional Health Authority and the Parish Council last June, it was decided that the facility, which was in a deplorable state and was posing grave health concerns, should be closed.
The Parish Council, which was promised $4.5 million by the Ministry of Local Government to effect repairs to the abattoir, responded expeditiously to the closure, spending some $2.5 million to improve and upgrade the slaughtering house. The project has been about 90 per cent complete for the past several weeks.
"We're only awaiting funds to buy the boiler and to pay the National Water Commission (NWC) to connect the sewage to their main in Bogue," said Secretary/Manager of the St. James Parish Council, Christopher Powell.
The NWC has reportedly laid the pipes to the abattoir but has taken a decision not to make the requisite connection until the money to do the job is paid over to them.
According to Mr. Powell, the sewage connection will cost $550,000 and the boiler, $1.2 million. He said a request for the funds has been sent to the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development.
Prior to the closure of the abattoir, the St. James public health authorities regularly raised concerns about the absence of a holding area for animals, the dumping of waste into the seas, the failure to remove garbage on a daily basis, the presence of stray animals on the compound, the lack of security and the generally poor state of sanitation.
As the abattoir remains close to business, butchers are forced to continue slaughtering animals for households and restaurants at satellite sites in rural St. James.
