Djabal butchers complain about slaughter tariff

Butchers from the refugee Djabal camp in East Chad, are complaining about the tariffs Chadian authorities have imposed over every animal they slaughter.Speaking to Radio Dabanga on Sunday, 30 September, a camp butchers’ committee member said his colleagues demand the cancellation or the reduction of these tariffs. The committee member, Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed, explained the tariffs were imposed after an organization that inspected carcasses for free withdrew its services from the camp last March. The reason for their withdrawal is not clear. Ahmed told Radio Dabanga that Chadian authorities gave butchers two options to solve this impasse. The first option would be that butchers slaughter their animals in Goz Beida locality, about three kilometers away from the camp, where veterinarians could inspect the carcasses, he explained. The second option, according to Ahmed, would be to slaughter the animals in Djabal and hire a veterinarian to inspect the carcasses at the camp. He added that inspecting animals at the camp costs 20 Sudanese pounds (SDG) for a cow or a camel and 2.5 SDG per sheep or goat. Djabal’s butchers consider these fees too high, as they normally slaughter animals two times per week, Radio Dabanga has learned. They demanded the intervention of UNHCR so that the tariffs over slaughtered animals are either canceled or reduced to half.