Private vets called in to prevent meat shortage

By Andria Kades

PRIVATE VETS will be working overtime in the lead up to the August 15 holiday weekend in order to ensure there are no shortages of meat, after state veterinary services refused to do the extra hours.

Meat importers, slaughterhouse owners, vet services and Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis held a meeting on Monday lasting over two hours to resolve the problem which had escalated on Friday. As part of the slaughtering process, vets have to carry out checks on the premises.

Meat importers and slaughterhouse owners announced strike measures for Monday after state vet services said they would not work overtime. Following the meeting, they agreed that private vets will work overtime this Monday and from August 9 – 14.

“This sector has illustrated several problems and it’s now time to resolve all these problems to avoid such misunderstandings and dangers of leaving the market without meat,” Kouyialis said.

At the moment, “the most important thing is that slaughterhouses will work normally,” however it is time to tackle the long standing problem at its core, he added.

“This is a temporary solution,” owner of Cypra Ltd slaughterhouse George Georgiou told the Cyprus Mail. “We had no other choice.”

The states will be buying the services from vets that are retired, unemployed or currently working in the private sector.

Another meeting will be held at the end of the month to see how the issue can be resolved in the long term.

“We pay €1 million per year to have slaughterhouses inspected, I think that’s more than enough money to cover their overtime work,” leader of the Povek Butchers Association Kostas Levadiotis said.

They have also agreed to finish as much of their workload within the eight hour framework so as to limit the need for overtime work, he added.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.