The district government is planning to build the country”s largest scientific slaughterhouse in Lahore and is likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Allama Iqbal Town administration in this regard by the end of this week, officials told Daily Times on Wednesday.
The district government will transfer a 96.25-acre piece of land in Shahpur Kanjuran to Allama Iqbal Town on lease for 30 years in line with the MoU. All modalities had been finalised, the Allama Iqbal Town municipal officer told Daily Times, and the town administration would begin construction as soon as the land is transferred, in line with a plan it had devised.
The project would be developed on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis, officials said, and the district government had already invited tenders to which eight engineering firms had responded with bids. Realising the importance of involving the town administration in the important project, the bids had sent to the Allama Iqbal Town administration for evaluation, they added.
Following the district government”s directives, the town administration had also consulted the Balochistan Livestock Department for technical assistance, they said, because the department had also built a slaughterhouse with an international company on BOT basis.
Besides international companies, the town administration was also interested in hiring the services of National Logistic Cell (NLC) or the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), they said, and could invite another tender shortly.
After the tender invitation by the town administration, the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (NESPAK) was likely to compile a feasibility report.
Although the authorities cannot comment on construction design details until they sign a contract with a company, officials said it had been decided in principle that a bakkar mandi (cattle market) would also be set up in the same locality. If this happens, all nine towns of the city will get their share from the project.
Earlier, the city government had proposed the construction of a slaughterhouse in each of the towns, but several towns rejected the idea saying they did not have sufficient land. Some towns approved the proposal but said veterinary dispensaries or hospitals should accompany the slaughterhouses. This proposal was turned down by the city government.
There are four major slaughterhouses in Lahore – in Shahdara, Baghbanpura, Saddar and Kot Kamboh. About 75 percent of the meat supplies come from the Kot Kamboh slaughterhouse where around 7,000 goats or sheep and 500 cows or buffaloes are slaughtered five days a week.
Talking to Daily Times, Agriculture Executive District Officer (EDO) Mumtaz Ahmad Awan said all relevant records had been transferred to the Allama Iqbal Town administration and it was now up to the town administration to commence construction.
He said the city consumed about 600,000 kilogrammes of meat every day, half of which is of poultry and fish, according to a non-government survey carried out two years ago. The new slaughterhouse will have the capacity to slaughter 9,000 goats and 7,000 cows daily, according to officials.
Mumtaz said the city government was planning to launch three other livestock development projects shortly, which the district development committee had approved.
Source: Daily Times
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