14 Jan 2016

Shortage of water at the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) in Maun has caused conflict between farmers and the abattoir. 

This comes after the abattoir told farmers to bring cattle to the Matsaudi collection point only to later tell them to release the cattle as they had no water to slaughter.

Farmers did not take kindly to BMC’s suggestion demanding instead that the abattoir should take responsibility for the feeding of the kraaled cattle. The misunderstanding led to a meeting with the farmers, BMC and the local authorities on Wednesday afternoon.

Addressing farmers at the Matsaudi crush, the district commissioner, Ms Chabongwa Matseka appreciated the farmers’ concerns and informed them that prior to their plea, the abattoir informed her about the challenge of water shortage to slaughter cattle.

She said an agreement was reached with the abattoir’s management that they address the situation through bowsing. She, however, noted that only one bowser vehicle had been secured while the search for more continues as the plant needs huge amounts of water.

Ms Matseka informed farmers that the decision to release the cattle to their respective areas had been reversed as BMC has now agreed to buy the cattle through live trade.

She explained that the abattoir would take the responsibility to relocate all the kraaled cattle to Makalamabedi quarantine where they would be weighed and bought at P8 per kg.

The arrangement was schedule to start on Thursday if the farmers agree to the deal, and the cattle would now be under BMC custody while at the quarantine.

“This is the only solution we have for you because our aim is to reduce the burden on you and also to address the situation at hand,” she added.

Kgosi Boikuelo Ntema of Matsaudi sympathised with the concerned farmers and hoped they could understand the situation the abattoir faced. He described it as a disaster and requested farmers to keep calm and resolve the issue amicably.

He said the price set was not bad looking at the fact that the cattle spent some days in the kraal without water while some had already died.

For their part, farmers complained that P8 per kg was too low and insisted that the abattoir buys their cattle at a better price. They argued that the abattoir would be robbing them as their cattle  had lost weight because of lack of water.

However, farmers came up with options. The first option was that the abattoir could construct a temporary kraal at Matsaudi so that the cattle could be weighed there instead of relocating them to Makalamabedi.

The second option was calling for the abattoir to keep the cattle for at least 2-3 days at the quarantine before buying them, and lastly that BMC should also take responsibility for the dead cattle.

The meeting which took hours did not bring any positive results as no agreement was reached. However, the officials who represented the abattoir could not respond to the options, but assured the farmers that they would take up their issue with their superiors. 

 

It was agreed a meeting would be convened before Thursday to give farmers feedback. Ends