– mayor wants John Fernandes to pay for lost revenue

GEORGETOWN Mayor, Ubraj Narine, has lamented that the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is losing a lot of revenue from the municipal abattoir that continues to be out of operation, since its closure on February 28.

The facility, located at Water Street, South Cummingsburg, is closed until further notice following an accident that damaged several sections of the building.

On February 27, at approximately 14:50 hours, a crane belonging to John Fernandes Company Limited fell onto the roof of the abattoir. The roof, walls and windows of the kitchen area were severely damaged. The roof of the slaughtering chambers was also damaged.

On Tuesday, the mayor told this publication that he will be meeting with representatives of John Fernandes on Friday to discuss the way forward and present to them his estimates.
According to him, he does not want to accept money from the company to finance the repairs, but prefers for them to complete everything. “I don’t want a temporary fix, because temporary turns into long term,” he said.

Narine also plans to request that the company pays City Hall the money that it has been unable to garner in revenues over the period that the abattoir remained closed.
At the moment, the meat and food inspectors are engaged in on-site inspections; no slaughtering can be done at Water Street due to health concerns.

The food hygiene section of the municipal abattoir falls under the Ministry of Public Health, Medical Officer of Health Department. The functions of the section include the slaughtering of bovine, porcine and ovine animals; inspection of animals for communicable diseases; and disposal of unsound meat.

The City Council has said it views this accident as unfortunate and regrets any inconvenience this causes to the business community and persons who use the facility.