PANJIM: Beef traders will resume import of beef into Goa from Wednesday after being assured of safety and security from Goa Police. Traders will also resume importing cattle for slaughter from next week with the requisite certificate from veterinary doctors in Karnataka.
Quraishi Meat Traders Association (QMTA) President Manna Bepari said that senior Goa Police officials assured beef traders that the police will not raid and act based on information or influence of NGOs or any other person.
He said, “We had a meeting with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday, where he had assured to call a meeting of all the concerned officials and
ensure that legal beef trade will not be affected. Accordingly, today we received a message from top officials of the police that they will provide safety and security if needed and the business can resume.”
Stating that an assurance has been received that NGOs and Animal Welfare Board members will not be allowed to meddle with the traders directly, Bepari said that police officials have demanded that all the required documents will be produced at the check posts while entering and the import will be allowed.
“We have been carrying out legal trade even earlier, it was only due to the NGOs and a person who claimed to be member of Animal Welfare Board that our imports were getting affected. The junior police officers would get influenced by them and beef would be seized and destroyed, leading to huge losses,” he added.
Bepari claimed that over the weekend, as a result of the four days business shut down, traders in Goa suffered a daily loss of around Rs 35 lakh in addition to the employees’ salaries and rent of the shops. “We hope the government will help us bear the losses we faced during the last four days”, he said.
Bepari also said that traders would commence importing cattle for slaughter from the next week upon receiving the necessary certificates as per law.
“Our second demand was to resume the functioning of the government abattoir at Goa Meat Complex. After various attempts and talks with concerned officials in Karnataka, we have been able to begin the process of receiving the fitness certificate as per Rule 96 of the Transportation of Animals Rules, 2001. Within a week we will be able to import cattle with this certificate from Karnataka and then we will resume slaughter the Goa Meat Complex and stop beef imports,” he stated.
Slaughter at Goa Meat Complex had been discontinued since October 2017 as Anjali Anand had claimed that the import of cattle was illegal as traders did not possess the veterinary doctor’s certificate as per Rule 96 of the Transportation of Animals Rules, 2001.
