Two slaughterhouses built at Tk 1.33b, only one cow slaughtered in seven years

Modern buildings, large gates, separate loading and unloading areas for livestock — everything is in place. Inside are expensive machines worth millions of taka. Yet none of it is being used. Everything caught dust as the facilities have remained idle for years.

This is the condition of the slaughterhouses in Hazaribagh and Kaptanbazar in the capital, both operated under the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).

The two modern slaughterhouses were built to ensure safe meat supply for Dhaka residents. The plan was to conduct health checks on animals before slaughter, separate sick livestock and inspect meat after slaughter. The facilities were also supposed to include modern waste and blood management systems. In reality, none of those objectives have been achieved.

According to sources in DSCC’s engineering department, construction of the Hazaribagh slaughterhouse began in August 2017 and was scheduled to be completed by June 2020. However, before the work was fully finished, then DSCC mayor Sayeed Khokon formally inaugurated the facility in 2019.

Sources said a cow was slaughtered there on the day of the inauguration. Seven years have passed since then, but not a single animal has been slaughtered at the facility again. The slaughterhouse has the capacity to process 30 cattle and 60 goats per hour. Construction of the facility cost Tk 810 million (81 crore).

A similar picture can be seen at the Kaptanbazar slaughterhouse. Construction began in January 2018 and was also supposed to end by June 2020. The facility can slaughter 14 cattle and 30 goats per hour and was built at a cost of Tk 520 million.

According to DSCC sources, the two slaughterhouses were built at a combined cost of Tk 1.33 billion without any proper feasibility study. There was little planning over where livestock would come from, how they would be transported or how meat would reach markets after slaughter.

Why the facilities remain unused

Officials say the biggest obstacles are the failure to lease out the facilities and the lack of operational capacity. As a result, the city corporation now wants to run both slaughterhouses under private management.

Soon after construction, attempts were made to lease out the Hazaribagh slaughterhouse for three years. The initial lease value was set at more than Tk 85.6 million, which was later reduced to just over Tk 61.6million. Even then, no one submitted bids.

Move to form committee

Recently, DSCC has renewed efforts regarding the slaughterhouses. An office order has been issued to form a committee aimed at reopening the Hazaribagh modern slaughterhouse. Discussions are also underway about launching operations at the Kaptanbazar facility.

Urban planner Adil Mohammed Khan told Prothom Alo that the Hazaribagh and Kaptanbazar slaughterhouses could still be saved. However, he warned that paper-based committees alone would not solve the problem.

“Without a realistic business model, proper enforcement of laws, market-based planning and accountability, these projects will ultimately remain symbols of failure,” he said.

DSCC administrator Abdus Salam told Prothom Alo, “We are considering how to make the modern slaughterhouses operational. One way or another, we will get both facilities running.”