By Fatou B. Cham
The Small Ruminant Production Enhancement Project (SRPEP) has recently handed over sites for the construction of major infrastructure facilities of the project across the country.
The infrastructures to be constructed include community pastures, rehabilitation of the Department Livestock Services (DLS) lab, standard veterinary drug outlets, fattening and breeding schemes, mini diary, milk collection centers, slaughterhouses, meat stalls, and a farmer demonstration center in YBK.
In handing over the project sites at Soma, Lower River Region (LRR), Project Director SRPEP, Mamud Njie, explained that the small ruminant project is going to construct facilities across the country,
These, He went on to explain include the establishment of 20 boreholes, 20 community pastures, 30 breeding schemes, 30 fattening schemes, 15 veterinary pharmacies, 10 livestock markets and as well as 10 meat stalls and 10 slaughterhouses.
He added that, a training center at YBK and the veterinary laboratory at Abuko will be constructed and rehabilitated, respectively.
According to the Project Director, all these structures have already been contracted and will be constructed within a period of one year.
“Soma in the Lower River Region will be having a slaughterhouse, a veterinary outlet, and a small ruminant market. This is a very important milestone for the project in the component of production, processing, and marketing,” he explained.
Momodou Darboe, Director General, Gambia Livestock Marketing Agency (GLMA), revealed that they did a visibility study and they realized that there was a need to establish markets and meat stalls. He further went on to explain that the study also revealed the need to have a terminal market where people get access to small ruminant animals whenever they go to the market.
“The slaughterhouse in Soma is more of a concrete slab and the sanitary component there is not optimal but constructing a modern slaughterhouse will help to produce meat that is fit for human consumption since meat can be easily be contaminated at slaughterhouses if there are no proper facilities in place,” he explained.
Alh. Yahya Jarjusey, Chief of Jarra west expressed gratitude to the project for its effort to establish these facilities which are opportune and important.
He further stated that getting drugs for their animals is a major problem because they have to go all the way to Abuko to get drugs but with the establishment of this Pharmacy, the health condition of their animals will be improved and would also save them the cost of transporting them to Abuko for treatment.
