Africa-Press – Botswana. Government is considering opening the Francistown Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) abattoir when cattle numbers rise to sufficient levels to sustain operations.
Answering a question in Parliament on Tuesday on behalf of the Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Minister of Communications and Innovation, Mr David Tshere said when numbers rose, the plant would be opened for cattle slaughter and it was anticipated soon.
He said since its commissioning in 1987, the abattoir had consistently struggled to meet its designed slaughter capacity of 400 cattle per day, which translated to approximately 88 000 cattle annually.
Mr Tshere said the plant’s peak performance was recorded in 2001 with 71 200 cattle slaughtered while the lowest was in 2011 with only 10 000 cattle processed, representing just 11 per cent of capacity due to an FMD outbreak in the catchment area.
In the years leading to its closure, he said the plant was operating at less than 25 per cent of its intended capacity, incurring losses of approximately P55 million.
Mr Tshere said the unsustained financial position placed a significant burden on the shareholder, ultimately prompting the decision to cease operations and place the facility under a care and maintenance programme.
He said government through the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture continued to implement programmes aimed at increasing national herd, including initiatives targeting regional growth.
The minister was responding to a question from Tonota MP, Mr Gaefele Sedombo who had asked the minister if there were any plans to reopen the Francistown plant since new beef markets had been secured.
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