'Temporary' closure of Gozo abattoir irks butchers

Butchers in Gozo have been left fuming after discovering that the island's slaughterhouse was forced to close last Monday because it does not comply with EU standards.

One of the butchers, Teddy Cefai, of Teddy's Butcher, in Victoria, said he felt cheated after learning only last Friday that he would not be able to take his livestock to the slaughterhouse.

"I have had to shut my shop and am sitting here with nothing to do because I have no beef or pork. I have had the shop for 20 years and only learnt about this a few days ago. If we had had advance notice we could have made alternative arrangements," Mr Cefai said.

Gozitan butchers are being forced to use the slaughterhouse in Malta or bring over frozen meat. Mr Cefai said the process was not easy since anyone transporting livestock had to follow strict food safety procedures.

"Some of the butchers have bought frozen meat. But the rest of us are without meat and Gozitan farmers with livestock have also been left in the lurch," he said.

Along with other butchers, Mr Cefai went to the Ministry for Gozo to demand an explanation.

When contacted, a ministry spokesman said: "The closure of the slaughterhouse is a temporary measure which has meant that some of the butchers and farmers have had to take their produce to Malta.

"In the meantime, the Gozo slaughterhouse will be upgraded to make it compliant with EU standards."

However, the spokesman could not specify how long this process will take. She said that tenders should be issued in the coming days and it was hoped that the slaughterhouse should be ready to reopen within a number of weeks or possibly months.

"They are obviously not delighted but they have been told that it is a temporary measure. The tenders are being prepared."

When asked why steps had not been taken to upgrade the slaughterhouse before Malta joined the EU, the spokesman said: "The tenders were not issued earlier because the ministry did not have the funds to carry out the work. It now has the funds to get started".

She said that this upgrading was a "necessary" measure that would benefit everybody. Moreover, she added, there would have been some inconvenience even if the work had been carried out before May 1.

However, Mr Cefai is unhappy with the situation: "We have stock that we want to kill and only find out now that we cannot do it. I voted for the EU but feel that we have been treated very unfairly".