ISLAMABAD, Feb 13: The city managers have dropped the idea of constructing the capital's first slaughterhouse in Sector G-10 and selected a new site in H-9 for this purpose.

The decision was taken in a recent meeting of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

“The department concerned is preparing a report which will be submitted to the CDA board regarding establishment of the slaughterhouse within the current month,” CDA spokesman Ramzan Sajid told Dawn on Monday.

It has been learnt that the authority will change the trade of the plot earlier reserved for the project in G-10 and auction it to generate funds for construction of the abattoir in H-9.

At present, Rawalpindi and Islamabad have only one slaughterhouse at Sihala but its ownership has become a bone of contention between the administrations of the two cities.

Last year, the administration of Rawalpindi announced that it would auction the slaughterhouse, but due to the resistance shown by the CDA and the capital administration the idea was dropped.

The office-bearers of Jamiatul Quresh Meat Sellers Association recently met the CDA high-ups and demanded early completion of the new slaughterhouse in H-9. “It is our longstanding demand to have the facility in Islamabad,' said the association's chief, Khursheed Qureshi.

The municipal administration directorate of the CDA is of the view that the existing slaughterhouse should be under its control because it is located in the territorial limits of Islamabad. However, the city district government of Rawalpindi claimed that the slaughterhouse had remained under its use for the last 30 years and; therefore, it had the sole right to run or sell it. As a result of the dispute, the slaughterhouse remains in a shambles.

“Due to the cold war between the CDA and the administration of Rawalpindi, we have advised the civic agency of the capital to set up its own abattoir,” said Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Amir Ali Ahmed.

He said the CDA had started some preliminary work on the project and the site for the new slaughterhouse had been selected in H-9.

“In fact, the Sihala slaughterhouse was established in the late 60s when Islamabad and Rawalpindi were one city; therefore, the administrations of both the cities claim ownership on the facility,” the deputy commissioner said.

Due to absence of a slaughterhouse in Islamabad, selling of unhygienic and medically unchecked meat has been on the rise. It has also been observed that butchers slaughter animals on their own without clearance from doctors usually deputed in government slaughter houses.

Most of the butchers are also accused of selling water-soaked meat to increase its wait.