Kedah abattoir - what went wrong?

Kedah pig slaughterers and sellers are facing a host of problems including hefty financial losses with the demolishing of the Kampung Berjaya abattoir.

The Alor Star Municipal Council has claimed that the oldest and sole slaughter house in Kedah was operating without a licence before it was demolished it three days ago.

Liew Lib Kooi, Kedah Pig Slaughterers Association chairperson, said that his members which includes vendors are suffering a litany of problems since the action against the abattoir.

"After the demolition, pig sellers have to get supply of pig carcasses from outside of Kedah. Besides waking up two or three hours earlier to get the supplies, the high transportation costs of the supplies have further burdened them," he told Malaysiakini.

After Pakatan Rakyat took over the Kedah administration from Barisan Nasional, the abattoir was told to relocate its operations as it was marked for demolition.

"The reason for the demolition of the abattoir was that the waste liquid from pig breeding activities flowed into padi fields and to the rivers where Malays use the water for their padi fields," Liew said.

The operators initially agreed to the abattoir demolition on the understanding that a suitable alternative be provided.

However, the association rejected the six sites proposed by DAP.

Earlier DAP state assemblyperson Lee Guan Aik, in the bid to hunt for a new location, had managed to get Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak to delay the June demolition by a month.

However, the attempt to look for an alternative site failed and the local council eventually lost patience.

"The state government is definitely giving us a hard time here, as until today, it had not provided any alternative sites for the slaughterers to build another abattoir," Liew said.

"The state government had only given us a month's time to give up the abattoir before they demolished it; this was not enough for us," he said.

"Even if we managed to find an alternative site in one month, can we build another abattoir in that period of time?" Liew asked.

No compensation for financial losses

Liew added that the state government had provided no help whatsoever to compensate the financial losses they had suffered as a result of their action.

Liew said that his members have yet to estimate their financial loss as they have been too busy in the last few days dealing with the shortage of pigs in the state.

“The price of pork in Kedah will certainly rise sharply as a result of this shortage," Liew said.

National Pork Sellers Association president Goh Chui Lai said that he was disappointed with the way the government handled the demolition of the Kampung Berjaya abattoir.

"It should have set up an alternative site for pig slaughterers before the municipal council demolished the old abattoir," Goh said.

"This is a hasty decision and action, not taking into consideration the pig slaughterers' needs to support their livelihood," he added.

Goh described the council's action as racial and not in accordance with Malaysia's democratic norms.

Following the demolition of this pig abattoir, Kedah DAP has decided to quit the PAS-led Pakatan state government formed more than a year ago.

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