Modern slaughterhouse on the way
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Municipality has announced plans to build a new high-standard slaughterhouse to replace the current one near Ruam Phun Pol Bridge.
Chaiyapreuk Phanpreuk, Deputy Mayor of Phuket City Municipality, said that the move is necessary because the Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), which owns the land where the current slaughterhouse is, informed him that the contract for the use of the land will not be renewed after it expires at the end of next year. The OrBorJor has other plans for the land, K Chaiyapreuk said.
A three-rai plot behind the Phuket Incinerator on Rattanakosin 200 Phi Rd has been allocated for the new building and work is slated to start at the beginning of next year. The project should take about a year to complete, he said.
“I think building a new slaughterhouse will be good for the province because the one that we are using now is too small and is old fashioned. The method used to kill pigs is still the old system of hitting them over the head and then hosing them down with hot water,” K. Chaiyapreuk said. “This is not as hygienic as modern methods.”
He explained that in the new slaughterhouse a machine will be installed that can administer an electric shock to stun the animals before using an automatic knife to slit their throats.
“The new slaughterhouse will be next to the incinerator and the water treatment plant. This is very convenient for disposing of corpses. The new facility will be cleaned out daily by high-powered water hoses for safety,” he said. “The building will also be sealed so rats and other animals cannot enter. The consumer will get a 100% guarantee of safety.”
The new slaughterhouse should be able to kill more than 300 pigs a day.
“If we have a modern slaughterhouse we may be able to increase the market for locally-produced pork products. At present high-end resorts bring their pork in from outside the province,” K. Chaiyapreuk said. “We may also consider building a pork produce factory to produce Chinese sausage.”
He added that pork sold at Tesco Lotus and Big C Super Center is ordered from slaughterhouses in Bangkok.
On August 22 the Municipality held a public hearing about the new slaughterhouse together with representatives from local communities, restaurants and slaughterhouse workers. All present agreed with the plan for a high-standard, modern slaughterhouse.
The slaughterhouse is expected to cost around 60 million baht. Discussions are still in progress over whether it will be privately funded or paid for by the Municipality, or with a combination of municipality and private funds.
After the new slaughterhouse has been finished, the Provincial Livestock Office will withdraw all permits for slaughtering pigs outside the slaughterhouse in order to enforce hygiene standards.
