29 Nov 2021

Construction of the multimillion Pula Tsabong multispecies abattoir, which was  commissioned by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi last year is within schedule. 

Speaking during Tsabong Sub-district Council recently, council chairperson, Mr Ronald Baitsewe said the state-of-the-art facility, expected to be completed by July 2022, stood at 44 per cent completion rate after 39 weeks. 

The overall progress of civil and building works stood at 28 per cent completion rate. So far, he said  P46.2 million had been expended on the project of an overall cost of P161 million. 

He said various structures of the project had been completed such as the administration block offices, electrical distribution block, kitchen, ablutions, guard rooms, and livestock receiving area which have been roofed. 

Meanwhile the excavation of the main abattoir building is complete and awaiting footing, 

He added that the foundation for the lairages was complete. The modular refrigeration units (chillers), which would be installed soon after foundation of the abattoir was complete had been delivered on site, he said, adding that the slab stage for the diesel tank and back-up generator had also been completed. 

Currently, cllr Baitsewe said, community mobilisation was ongoing where farmers were trained to be able to produce quality flock to sustain the abattoir and consultations were currently ongoing to sensitise communities about the upcoming abattoir and exploit related value chains. 

On other issues, he highlighted the need for councilors to spread word to farmers that the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security extended the dispensation on export of live cattle, meat and meat products exports by licensed abattoirs for two years starting from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023 under the current guidelines. 

He said the dispensation would be subject to periodic reviews depending on the sustainability of the beef industry, thus farmers in the sub-district must ensure that they benefited. 

He stated that the annual vaccination campaign for anthrax or quarter evil was ongoing, but commenced late as a result of shortage of resources and challenges posed by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. 

As at November 2021, he noted, a total of 11 138 cattle from Struizendam and Tsabong Extension areas had been vaccinated for Anthrax, 3 686 had been vaccinated for Quarter Evil whilst 1 137 had been vaccinated against Rabies. Meanwhile repair of crushes commenced at Struizendam and Makopong hence farmers were encouraged to vaccinate. 

He said Botswana Animal Identification and Traceability System (BAITS) was also progressing well, the sale of ear tags for small stock started in July 2021 and a new BAITS café was established at Maubelo which brought to eight, the number of operational cafes in the district. He said another BAITS café for the BORAVAST cluster which comprise of villages of Bokspits, Rappelspan, Vaalhoek and Struizendam started operating in September 2021. The developments, he said would create employment opportunities for the communities. 

On Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID), cllr Baitsewe said in order to decrease backlog, packaging of 160 beneficiaries had been approved at Makopong and was conducted from 15-19 November, adding that funds permitting the same exercise would be extended to Draaihoek where 202 applications would  be processed. Ends