Dubai to convert buses into mobile slaughterhouses?

Dubai Municipality is considering transforming some of its buses to mobile slaughterhouses to meet some of the public's demands for slaughter in their homes, especially for large families that slaughter more than one animal during Eid Al Adha.

These buses will be modified and equipped with all slaughter and veterinary requirements and butchers approved from the Municipality in addition to inspection by a specialist veterinary doctor before and after slaughter. This was stated by Zuhoor Al Sabbagh, Director of Public Health Services Department at the Municipality during the Leadership on Air program organized by the Municipality in cooperation with Dubai Radio.
The program was opened by Mohammed Mubarak Al Mutaiwei, Chief Executive Manager of Dubai Municipality for Business Development Sector in the presence of Ibrahim Dashti, Acting Director of Customer and Partners Relations Department; Abdullah Abbasi, Acting Director of Abattoirs Section; Adel Al Karani, Director of Customer Care Section and a number of employees of the departments of Public Health Services and Customer and Partners Relations.
About 20 listeners joined the program by calling from Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, all of them asked about the Eid sacrifice, the Al Mawashi App, mobile abattoir, timing and places of slaughter, as well as the establishment of additional abattoirs and the expansion of the current abattoirs.
Al Sabbagh responded to all questions of the public and confirmed that the Municipality started implementing an integrated plan through the ports and animal markets in preparation for the sacrifice season, during which, large number of sheep and cattle consignments reach Dubai, adding that during last year's Eid Al Adha, Dubai markets had received 170,000 animals, which is expected to increase by 60% this year to reach about 300,000.
She added that all of them will be subjected to quarantine procedures as well as physical inspections and laboratory tests as per the standards of the Animal Health Organization, to ensure they are safe and free from infectious and communicable diseases and common diseases, which will be done in coordination with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
Al Sabbagh reiterated the Municipality's readiness in terms of its qualified technical staff, which includes veterinarians, inspectors and lab technicians, who are distributed at all animal supply outlets to check the health and safety of sacrificial meat in all Dubai abattoirs and to take necessary hygienic measures for animals and slaughter. 
She said the Department is equipped to provide these services and procedures through the smart systems of Dubai Municipality. 
Al Sabbagh said that all preparations have been completed for this year's Eid Al Adha and the Department has made several initiatives to improve the services at the abattoirs, including the establishment of a quick abattoir, in addition to a new temporary slaughter hall in Al Qusais, designed for six slaughter lines with a capacity of 300 sacrifices per hour. 
"The Smart Abattoir has also been developed and updated, where the sacrifice animal can be easily chosen through Al Mawashi App, which works on smart phones, without the need for the customer to be physically present in the Abattoir," she pointed out. 
"In addition, the maintenance of all the abattoirs has been completed and now eight facilities will offer services to the customers. They include Al Qusais Abattoir, where there are three dedicated slaughter halls, the Quick Abattoir in Al Qusais, Al Quoz Abattoir, Hatta Abattoir, Al Khawaneej Temporary Abattoir, and Al Lisaili Abattoir," said Al Sabbagh.
"All these have been done to encourage public to get their animal slaughter done inside the abattoirs and to do away with the phenomenon of indiscriminate slaughter and the wandering butchers. We have launched awareness campaigns for individuals through the print media, radio and visual media, in addition to social media, against this phenomenon, which is of high risk to the health and safety of the members of the society and causes environmental pollution," she added. 
"It is worth mentioning that Dubai Abattoirs have the HACCP certificates and are internationally recognized for the implementation of halal slaughter procedures. All Abattoirs are keen to make optimal utilization of the residues of skins and viscera by signing contracts with partners to benefit from them in order to protect the environment from pollution," she said. 
"Recently, the Lisaili Abattoir was established in Mirgham area near the Camel Market to serve members of the community in the area. It has a capacity to slaughter 20 large animals and 120 small animals in an hour. This abattoir is equipped to slaughter camels, which is the first in the region. All occupational health and safety standards are also applied to the workers. The specialty of the abattoir is that it is a green abattoir as it is equipped with energy conservation techniques, and is environmentally-friendly and sustainable with the optimal utilization of resources," said Al Sabbagh. 
She said that Dubai Abattoirs affirms the need to provide customers with high quality services to all individuals in the society, the citizens, residents and tourists to reduce waiting hours and speed up service delivery.
"The Abattoirs will work from the ArafaT day, especially the abattoirs of Al Qusais, Al Quoz, Al Lisaili and Hatta from 6:00 am to 4:00pm. From the first day of Eid until the third day of the Eid, the temporary abattoir in Al Khawaneej and the Quick Abattoir will be offering slaughtering services after Eid Al Adha prayer until 4pm on the first day of Eid and from 6am to 4pm on the second and third days of Eid. On the fourth day, the working hours will be from 6am to 4pm in Al Qusais, Al Quoz and Al Lisaili and from 7:30am to 4:00pm in Hatta," Al Sabbagh said.
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