By Praise Chinecherem
Anambra State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Forster Ihejiofor has urged Veterinary Technicians to develop a robust working relationship with other stakeholders in veterinary practice that will improve the safety of meat being consumed in the state.
Ihejiofor who made the call at a meeting with Veterinary Technicians drawn from all the 21 local government areas of the state, described the meeting as key to ensuring closer working relationship for better service delivery to secure public health.
He stressed the need for effective animal disease control and surveillance across the state, assuring that the Ministry would do everything within its power to ensure their challenges were addressed.
He commended the Veterinary Technicians for providing services to livestock farmers, noting that modest achievements will not be recorded without mutual cooperation.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mrs Ifeyinwa Uzoka called for harmonious working relationship among Agric Heads of Department, Veterinary Technicians and Veterinary Doctors across the local government areas to preserve public health.
She underscored the importance of multifaceted approach to rid Slaughter Houses/Abattoirs and Poultry Farms of animal diseases as well as ensuring good hygienic practices.
The Director of Veterinary Services, Dr Rose Basil Ejidike, decried high recorded cases of tuberculosis and related diseases found in cattles at Slaughter Houses and Abattoirs across the state.
She urged the Veterinary Technicians to always report such cases to Veterinary Doctors for onward transmission to the state government to ensure speedy control of diseases transmitted from cattles and chickens to humans.
Earlier, Veterinary Technicians, including Mrs Grace Ozoemena, Awka South, Mrs Rosemary Ndive, Oyi and Mrs Joy Dim, Orumba North, enumerated their work schedule to include daily meat inspection at slaughter houses/abattoirs, ante mortem and post mortem monitoring of cattles to determine fitness for human consumption.
They also identified dearth of manpower, administrative bottlenecks, uncooperative attitude/intimidation by butchers, lack of functional veterinary clinics, offices and equipment as some of the lingering challenges to effective veterinary services in the state.
