Continuing a crackdown on dirty meat, Phnom Penh’s governor plans to go after illegal slaughterhouses and monitor legal ones more consistently—both to ensure better pork and beef for consumers and to raise more revenue for the city.
Governor Chea Sophara told his district governors Monday to take stock of all illegal slaughterhouses within the city limits and report them to City Hall. He also ordered the city agricultural department to do a better job monitor the meat it inspects.
“Nonhygienic meat comes from the black market,” he said at a weekly meeting Monday morning. “If we check it out before we distribute it to the market, the people will be safe.”
In February, Chea Sophara ordered a crackdown on unclean, illegal slaughterhouses, where pigs or cows could pass through without any sort of inspection from city officials.
On Monday, he repeated that order.
Municipal Cabinet Chief Mann Chhoeun said he will personally be keeping track of district inspections and will report directly to the governor each week.
Not only are illegal slaughters endangering consumers, but they are costing the city money, he said. So are improper inspection techniques at existing facilities, where some money is falling through the cracks.
Taxes on pigs and cattle currently generate about $10,000 per month for the city. But that’s only about 70 percent of what the city could potentially receive, according to a municipal report.
To collect taxes more efficiently, Chea Sophara wants to buy computers so inspectors who work on site all day can keep better track of livestock coming through and the amount of money collected.
But he said he hasn’t decided whether to issue computers to each of the seven existing facilities, or to devise a way to consolidate them into a central location.
Ultimately, however, buying safe meat is up to the consumer, who can look for meat certified by the city, said Pheang Chum Ly, director of the municipal agricultural department. “I noticed at the market that if there are pigs without a stamp on them, the customer didn’t want to buy it,” he said while visiting a newly opened slaughter facility.
At the new facility, farmers bring their pigs or cows and rent space to slaughter and quarter the animals themselves. They pay 2,500 riel per pig. Of that amount the municipality collects 1,500 riel, and the owner keeps 1,000 riel.
Pigs are inspected by a municipal official who spray-paints a blue circle on the flank of acceptable animals. Once slaughtered and quartered, the meat is given a seal of approval and certified.
