A call on the O’Neil-Deon government to reopen abattoir at 12 Mile

By Johnson T. WETEPIA
Sales & Marketing Manager, Radho Piggery 

Its five weeks now after only state-owned abattoir in the Southern region was closed down due to financial constrains. This has severely affected the only three cattle and piggery farmers in the region that use the abattoir. 

 The 3 affected livestock companies are the only companies in the Southern Region that supply fresh meat to the shop outlets in the National Capital District and Central Provinces.

Radho Piggery Managing Director, Robert Rasaka said his company sells about 100 to 200 pigs in a week to different supermarkets in the city and Central Province alone. He said, however, the closure of the abattoir has resulted in the loss of business as hundreds of thousands of kina are spent on feeds, labor, electricity, and other running costs of the business.

Similar sentiments were made by Koitaki Limited, a company specializes in cattle farming and Boroma Piggery Limited located along Sogeri Road, Central Province.

They collectively call on the national government under responsible authorities to reopen the abattoir so they could not have further damages to their businesses. 

They also called on the government for a public private partnership deal over the state-owned abattoir located at 12 Mile, Sogeri Road, to avoid similar funding issues/constrains in the near future. They said if the government is critical about promoting Small to Medium Enterprises in the country, then such issues should not be overlooked as it severely affects the local businesses.

Negligence and failure to act promptly by the responsible government authorities may result in the loss of business in these SMEs.

If PNG has to move forward reducing high unemployment and poverty rates, funding and supporting SMEs by the national government is the paramount importance. This will in turn help improve the economy of the country in many years to come.