The government has pulled back on an effort to clean up slaughterhouses in Takeo province after protests from vendors who said the new regulations made meat too expensive.
Meat sales can proceed as usual in the province after the government canceled a contract with the Hoy Heang Slaughter House Co, vendor representative Hay Boun said Sunday.
In early February, Ministry of Agriculture officials signed a deal which required all meat sold in the province to be slaughtered at one of Hoy Heang’s 21 licensed slaughterhouses. The company is owned by RCAF General Kim Buon Keang.
Farmers had previously been allowed to slaughter their livestock at home. Agriculture officials said the new rules were needed to allow government inspectors to examine the meat for diseases or other problems. Traveling from farm to farm to examine livestock was too difficult, they said.
But vendors protested, saying the new regulations drove the price of meat too high for poor villagers to buy it. For example, Hoy Heang charged 9,000 riel (about $2.25) to slaughter a pig, raising market prices for pork from 5,000 riel per kilogram (about $1.25) to 8,000 riel (about $2).
Last Thursday, vendors demonstrated in front of the Phnom Penh home of Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng. They accused Hoy Heang of unfairly driving up the price of meat.
Hean Heang, a meat vendor, said at the demonstration that military police in Takeo had threatened vendors and confiscated meat that had not been slaughtered at Hoy Heang facilities. Vendor Eng Reat said she lost 650 kg of pork worth about $770.
Boung Seang Heang, a butcher, said that it wasn’t fair for the company to charge 9,000 riel per pig, regardless of its size. “We cannot make a living,” said fellow demonstrator Moug Peng.
Sen Ovann, deputy animal inspector with the Ministry of Agriculture’s provincial office in Takeo, said Sunday that inspectors will continue to examine meat sold in all markets.
Meat slaughtered at home for family use will not be inspected, Sen Ovann said. Any uninspected meat offered for sale will be confiscated, he said.
