The Bolgatanga Butchers Association has denied suggestions that there are deliberate attempts by them [the butchers] to frustrate the attempts of the Assembly to fully operationalize the Ghc1.2 million ultra-modern abattoir at Yorogo; a suburb of Bolgatanga.
It would be recalled that when the Bolgatanga Municipal Budget Officer Dauda Issahaku Saari, the Municipal Finance Officer, Alhaji Sheriff Adams and the MCE, Rex Asanga spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show about the Assembly’s improved strategies to generate revenues internally, Mr. Asanga suggested that there may be a deliberate attempt by the butchers to frustrate the Assembly.
This, he said, is the reason the butchers refused an upward adjustment in the fees collected for slaughtering cattle. It would also be recalled that in a previous interview, the MCE suggested that the butchers were stealing parts of the machines that were to be used for the slaughtering of the animals.
Speaking on the same platform today, Monday, May 23, 2022, the Spokesperson for the Youth Butchers, Ibrahim Osman denied all such allegations.
He explained that the Assembly has rather taken many arbitrary decisions without recourse to the plight of the butchers.
“No, no, no, I do not think that there is something like that,” he said.
Mr. Osman went on to say that “we the butchers and the Assembly have a lot [of issues]. As an Assembly, we are under them. If the Assembly wants to do anything to/for the butchers, we need the information, but that one is not there. I don’t know whether because we are slaughtering the animals, they just see us also to be animals or what?”
Mr. Osman disclosed that a few days ago, their new facility was swamped by armed security personnel. Thorough questioning suggested that the personnel were sent by the Bolga Municipal Assembly.
“We woke up realising that there are policemen surrounding the abattoir. When we went there, [we asked them], what is your problem here? [They said] that the Assembly brought them saying that they [the Assembly] invited us to a meeting and we could not attend. They said we have to use the facilities to slaughter the animals but we are not trying to cooperate with them. So they [the Assembly] are bringing the police for us to do the work for them.”
He insisted that the butchers were not aware of any meeting that was supposed to happen. To help address the current impasse, however, there is expected to be a meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, between the Assembly and the butchers.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
