OPTIONS ON PUT UP OF BAGUIO MODERN ABATTOIR STUDIED

12 May 2021 – The city is weighing its options on how to put up the proposed modern slaughterhouse within a portion of the 10-hectare area ceded to the local government by the agriculture department to cater to the increasing needs of quality meat supply.

City Veterinarian Dr. Brigit Piok stated that the two options being considered by the local government include the declaration of the project as an economic enterprise where the city will provide the funds for the project or the same will be funded by a loan from a government financial lending institution.

Based on her presentation during the regular management committee meeting, she disclosed that the total funding for the aforesaid project will be more than P108 million that will include the provision of the needed delivery trucks and vehicles for the sustained operation of the facility.

In case the city will opt to fund the put up of the modern abattoir, the city veterinarian claimed that the investment will be recovered in 7 years with a projected income of over 18 percent.

On the other hand, she added that if the local government will decide to loan the required amount for the project, the repayment period was projected to be 8 years with a projected income of 15 percent aside from paying some P42 million in interest for the loaned amount.

From the present rates being charged from the city, the local government department head stipulated that there will be a slight increase in the fees and charges to allow the city to recover its investment and generate income from its operations.

Earlier, the city benchmarked the proposed modernization of the slaughterhouse from the established state-of-the-art abattoirs in Tanauan City and Lipa City, Batangas that allowed the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBO) to prepare the plan, design and cost estimates for the project.

Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong ordered the City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO) and the Local Finance Committee to study the proposed options for the proposed modern abattoir so that it will be pursued once the best option on how to undertake the project shall have been ascertained.

The local government had been looking for an available city-owned as the relocation of the city’s slaughterhouse so that appropriate improvements could be introduced that will allow the facility to qualify as a modern abattoir based on existing standards established by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).

Initially, the city has been looking for some P70 million to fund the put up of the proposed modern abattoir to allow the improvement of the services being provided by the existing slaughterhouse located right within the Slaughterhouse Compound as the same had been existent in the area over the past several decades.

Piok express hope that the project will be realized the soonest so that the modern abattoir will be rehabilitated to conform with existing standards. – Dexter A. See