Al-Faleh: Establishing slaughterhouses to support food security
State Minister for Development and Sustainability Affairs, Dr. Reem Al-Faleh, called for the establishment of modern slaughterhouses to support the country’s food security system. In a letter addressed to the Municipality regarding the initiative to establish modern and advanced slaughterhouses to bolster the food security system, Al-Faleh stated that the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition (PAFN) has indicated that expanding the construction of modern and advanced slaughterhouses is among the projects that support the food security system. The Authority has no objection, in principle, to studying the allocation of suitable sites for the construction of integrated slaughterhouses in accordance with approved requirements and regulations. She noted that the Minister of Health, who was overseeing the PAFN at the time, had previously written to the Municipality regarding the need to expand the construction of new slaughterhouses across various governorates to keep pace with population growth and urban expansion, thereby positively impacting food safety, serving consumers, and meeting food security requirements.
Mohammed Al-Salem, Director of the Slaughterhouses Department at Al-Nadab, confirmed in a letter addressed to the Director General of Inspection and Supervision Affairs, which Al-Qabas reviewed, that the country’s central slaughterhouses operate under a direct investment system (Build-Operate-Transfer, BOT) through contracts between the investors in these slaughterhouses and the Ministry of Finance. The PAFN is responsible for supervising and regulating these slaughterhouses. Given the rapid urban expansion following the establishment of the residential city of Sabah Al-Ahmad in the south and the residential city of Al-Mutlaa in the north, and to alleviate the burden of transportation from various areas to the slaughterhouses and reduce the stress on animals during transport, as well as to complete the food security system by facilitating and ensuring that slaughtering operations are conducted in accordance with approved standards and specifications to guarantee food safety and curb the phenomenon of unregulated slaughter, Al-Salem stated that there is no objection to allocating land for the construction of integrated slaughterhouses in the areas of Al-Kabd, Al-Abdali, and Al-Wafra Agricultural Zone.
Al-Salem proposed that the sites be located on the outskirts of these areas, close to main roads and services, and away from residential zones. He noted that the selection and allocation of sites fall under the purview of the Municipal Council, while taking into account the entity to which the land will be allocated in the future, so that it can complete the procedures for tendering in accordance with the systems and regulations followed by the Ministry of Finance for the construction of these slaughterhouses.
