Kathmandu Post

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Unhygienic meat

JAN 13 - The news story (“Locals consuming unhygienic meat”, Jan 11, TKP) was an interesting piece to read though it was written about the unhygienic meat being sold in Nepalgunj. But have local municipalities responsible for monitoring the quality of meat sold in the local markets been able to enact a law that provides a clean slaughterhouse and better market for the local consumers?
Leave aside Nepalgunj, the capital city is worse than other cities of Nepal in terms of hygienic meat. I cannot express here how butcher-chopped-goats or buffaloes are being sold on road-sides. The meat is not only dust-filled but there is no place in the capital where consumers can purchase hygienic meat at an authorized market. Besides, the local consumers do not even raise such health-related issues. Nor have the mayors of Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and Kathmandu felt the need for having an authorised slaughterhouse and market.
Nepal has some remarkable progress in areas such as education, health and tourism. But we have never realized that hygienic food keeps our health better. We may know it is necessary to have effective laws to keep our health better because of better products but we have not yet taken the need for such laws seriously. This is main reason why tourists other than backpackers do not want to visit this country.
Rajan Chauhan,
Tripureswar, KathmanduPosted on: 2004-01-13 02:13

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