Meatco halts slaughtering

ELLANIE SMIT

Windhoek



Meatco has put on hold all slaughtering until 20 April when staff will report back for duty.

Meatco spokesperson Rosa Hamukuaja-Thobias told Namibian Sun that it is unclear at this stage what impact the shutdown will have on the company.

She said Meatco had been doing block slaughtering because of the low throughput of cattle at the abattoir. This was because farmers are still rebuilding their herds after the drought.

It is expected that Meatco will resume full operations once the lockdown is lifted.



Rebooking

Hamukuaja-Tobias said all farmers who have booked slaughtering slots during this period would be rebooked for a later date.

“Prices payable will remain the same as per the original slaughter day booked.”

According to her the payment date will also remain the samem as if the producer had slaughtered on the date booked.



Feedlot open

“With resumption of slaughter activities on 20 April, Meatco will start up with a full team, meaning that slaughter capacity will be more than double compared to the current block-slaughter capacity.”

She added that Meatco would continue to receive cattle at the feedlot during the lockdown period.

All permit days and communal procurement events will also continue as normal. All producers will be informed of changes regarding reallocations of slaughter bookings within the next few days and reallocation will be done according to merit points.

“We would like to thank producers for their understanding in this difficult time as it remains imperative to curb the spread of the virus as soon as possible and we appreciate your cooperation.”