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Gweru leases abattoir

Local News
In a lease notice yesterday, Harare-based Bellevue Abattoir Butchery said it would operate the abattoir with effect from July 1.

BY STEPHEN CHADENGA GWERU City Council (GCC) has leased the municipality’s abattoir to Bellevue Butchery to generate income after years of making loses at the poorly-run slaughterhouse, Southern Eye has established.

In a lease notice yesterday, Harare-based Bellevue Abattoir Butchery said it would operate the abattoir with effect from July 1.

“Reference is hereby made towards the call for objections on the lease of Gweru City Abattoir to Bellevue Butchery which ran from November 30, 2021 to 28 January 2022,”  the notice read.

“No objections were submitted to council and as such Bellevue Butcheries was offered the lease to run the abattoir for 10 years. Residents are advised that Bellevue Butcheries will take over the running and operations of Gweru City Abattoir with effect from July 1st 2022 offering good services with competitive prices.

“The above-mentioned premises will be closed for a period of one week from July 1st to the 7th, 2022 for minor renovations of the abattoir to meet the required standards as per the various pieces of legislation governing the meat industry,” Bellevue Butchery said.

In 2018, council entered into an agreement with one of the biggest supplying companies in the country, Koala Park Butchery and Abattoir, with the latter undertaking to pay $7 000 in monthly rentals. At that time, council was making an average of $2 000 against employment costs of $3 500.

The deal, however, failed to take off due to bureaucratic bungling at council.

In 2019, the then mayor Josiah Makombe revealed that workers were using machetes and other outdated equipment to slaughter cattle at the local authority’s abattoir, a situation he said saw potential customers shunning the slaughterhouse.

Makombe then advised the local authority to find a well-resourced partner to install modern equipment and revamp the abattoir.

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