Citizens in Yei town in South Sudan’s Yei River County have expressed discontent about consumption of uninspected meat since the past three years in the area.
Several citizens told Radio Tamazuj that they usually buy poor quality meat, saying they are unable to identify the types of meat being sold at the market.
Richard Duku, a local citizen and buyer, accused the government of failing to inspect butcheries and slaughterhouses for many years in the area.
“You also find that when you go to the slaughterhouses, you may feel like jumping out of your skin looking at the dirty place where meat is placed,” he said.
“Sometimes if you think of such places where cows and bulls are being slaughtered, one will just conclude that it is better to stay without eating meat,” he added.
He called on the relevant authorities to establish proper selling points and take action against whoever sells poor quality meat to the public.
Another consumer called David Mabe appealed to the relevant authorities to create awareness among local residents via local radio stations and hold face-to-face meetings with butchers so that consumers are protected.
“Many times I have seen that, meat dealers every morning place meat on their tables without even washing their tables, You also find that tomorrow another meat is placed on the same table, are we really safe?” he asked.
Tumalu Joyce, who is also a consumer, said that they are difficulties identifying poor quality meat at the market. “We are really at risk because it is very difficult for us to find out safe meat for our family consumption,” she said.
She called on the government to issue identification cards to approved meat sellers or stamp all meats approved for sale at the market.
Meanwhile, a butcher who identified himself as Kulang said that it is not their responsibility to call on the government to inspect meats. “What we know is that we are paying taxes to the government,” he said.
For his part, Milton Ismail, Director of Animal Resources and Fisheries in Yei River State, admitted his government’s failure to inspect meat at the market regularly.
He confirmed that they carried out the exercise in 2013 and that they couldn’t inspect the market to due to insecurity in the area.
“Our field team inspectors have not carried out inspection, we are not sure whether the meat being eaten is safe or not, because there was no inspection, these cows sometimes
You find that they are not safe, you can see the cows from outside look healthy, but inside they are sick,” he said.
The official attributed the problem to lack of financial support to carry out their work activities. He also said that the area lacks modern slaughterhouses, while calling on partners to support them in building a permanent slaughterhouse in Yei town.