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Karl Schembri
The defunct Gozo abattoir still employs 36 workers – the same number working there before it was closed down three years ago – but the island’s minister Giovanna Debono says they are only doing occasional work until the facility is reopened shortly.
Talking to MaltaToday, Debono explains that the island’s slaughterhouse will be reopened after closing three years ago because it was not up to EU requirements. Its activities have since been centralised to the Malta abattoir.
At present, the closed abattoir still employs the same number of employees as when it last functioned in 2004. These include a butcher, two watchmen, five general hands, two clerks, a timekeeper and a weigher, among others.
Debono justified their employment there as they were given “other jobs to do”, adding that among the 36 workers there were practitioners offering veterinary services in Gozo.
“The Gozo abattoir does not employ people just for the slaughtering of animals. There are also a number of workers carrying out continuous inspections on farms as required by the EU,” the minister said, while announcing that the slaughterhouse should reopen after a new call for tenders is issued.
“Even if we hadn’t joined the EU, it was still high time to upgrade the slaughterhouse,” she said. “It was not up to standard and we insist on having good facilities, especially as regards hygiene. We’ve requested substantial funds to open a new slaughterhouse so that Gozo would have its own abattoir. The building is ready but we’ve had difficulties with the machinery and equipment. Whoever submitted the tender was not up to the required standard and we had to issue a new call for tenders. In the meantime, however, we are subsidising the transport of animals to Malta to reduce the Gozitan farmers’ inconvenience.”
The minister would not specify a timeframe for the opening of the new abattoir.
“Once the equipment is bought it will be in place,” she said. “If the tender process goes on as expected it should be ready in a few months’ time.”
But the Opposition’s spokesman on agriculture, Noel Farrugia, slammed the government for “being totally out of focus on livestock slaughtering” while its financing plans are “in a crisis”.
“They keep blaming tender processes for the delays, but the Malta abattoir incinerator was set up last year after massive investment and it’s still not functioning, while the de-boning plant installed in 2005 has also been left unused despite its urgent need,” Farrugia said. “There is absolutely no strategy, and it doesn’t make sense to have no co-ordination between the Gozo and Malta slaughterhouses. The workers currently employed at the closed abattoir in Gozo should be used to operate the de-boning plant.”
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