Beirut Abattoir to be renovated

The aim is to boost sanitary measures

A plan to rehabilitate the temporary abattoir in Beirut is underway. Samer Soubra, director of the health committee at Beirut Municipality, said that the terms for the contract for the company that will undertake the project have been finalized.

Soubra said the rehabilitation of the structure in Qarantina will focus mainly on upgrading sanitary measures. “Improvements will include the automation of operations in order to maintain better hygiene by reducing (contact with and) handling of the meat,” said Soubra. “We will use a technique whereby we will shield the ceilings in order to better control the temperature inside the building. We will fix the windows to reduce contamination." The restoration work will also involve the treatment of waste.

Soubra said that the restoration work is a temporary solution: “The abatoir will eventually be relocated.” Beirut’s abattoir, which was moved to Qarantina in 1994, is built over 13,000 square meters of land. The current structure consists of a huge hangar, with two compartments, one to cut up the meat and another to display the meat. It does not meet health standards. No efforts have been made so far to revamp the abattoir.

The terms of the contract for the project to rehabilitate the abattoir is currently pending approval of the municipal council. The cost of the project and the date for the bidding to commence have yet to be announced. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the abattoir currently has the capacity to meet only one third of demand from Beirut and its suburbs.

Maarouf Bekdache, president of the Syndicate of Butchers Union and Livestock Traders, said: “The Council for Development and Reconstruction conducted a study 12 years ago on building a modern abattoir which serves the needs of Beirut and its suburbs.”

The plan was to build a new structure on a 40,000-square meter state-owned property in Qarantina, near the current structure. Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank had offered to fund the project through a $17 million soft loan. The loan termed out and the bank withdrew its offer. “The municipality later said it would fund the long-awaited project,” said Bekdache. If the project sees the light of day, butchers in Beirut and the surrounding areas will not be allowed to slay animals outside the public abattoir.