New slaughterhouse for Tripoli

Parliament approved two weeks ago a loan agreement with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), to build and equip a slaughterhouse in Tripoli.

KFAED will offer $19 million to finance the total cost of the project, import and establishment of mechanical and electric equipment, as well as the import of refrigerated vehicles and consultancy services necessary for the slaughterhouse.

The execution is expected to take three years. Project management will be handled by the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR). The interest rate on the loan is two percent, with a grace period of three years, starting from the first withdrawal of funds.

The new slaughterhouse will be located in place of the former. The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) shut down the Tripoli slaughterhouse in November 2014, due to the discovery of violations that threatened food safety and citizens’ health. “We were supposed to stay only five years in that slaughterhouse, from 1996 to 2000, but our stay was extended,” said Ahmad El Bakkar, Chairman of the Syndicate of Butchers in North Lebanon. He said that “establishing a new slaughterhouse that is compliant with health standards is a very positive step.”

A study was conducted by the CDR to evaluate the environmental impact of the slaughterhouse and to get the approval of the Ministry of Environment.