Namibia has given the go-ahead to two donkey abattoirs that plan to export meat to Vietnam and skins to China, but they have met stiff opposition from locals. Investigation by Oscar Nkala A production line for donkey ‘glue’, called ejiao, in China. Fu Hai Trading Enterprises CC plans to slaughter at least 100 donkeys a day in Outjo. Photo © George Knowles/Hong Kong A full council meeting of the Outjo Municipality in northern Namibia was convened on May 15 this year to deliberate whether to award land to a Chinese company with plans to develop a controversial donkey abattoir. According to its business plan, Fu Hai Trading Enterprises CC envisages employing 170 people in an operation that would export meat to Vietnam, for distribution to military veterans in 13 regions of South-East Asia. The donkey hides would be exported to China, where they are used to produce gelatin, a key ingredient in the making of a traditional Chinese medicine called ejiao. The minutes of the council meeting state in the opening paragraph: “Having studied the objections, the council is of the opinion that misleading information was shared with community members about the planned donkey abattoir, which resulted in them signing the objections. Most of the objections are similar, and have been duplicated.” The Outjo Community Committee had submitted a 10-point petition against the abattoir to the municipality, pointing out the northern region of Namibia does not have enough donkeys to sustain the suggested slaughter rate of 100 animals a day. Questions raised in the petition included why no local investors were involved in the abattoir venture, and why the council had decided to offer the land to a Chinese company rather than local ones. “On numerous occasions Outjo has been in the news for being a link in the illegal rhino horn, elephant tusk and pangolin trade. Is this slaughterhouse not a front for other illegal activities? Do we really need a slaughterhouse, run by the Chinese, in Outjo?” the community committee asked. The petition also raised environmental health fears arising from the lack of a waste disposal plan for the abattoir, its potential water security impacts and possible pollution of the Outjo Aquifer, the only source of water for the town, through seepage of animal waste. The municipality ruled that residents who opposed the abattoir did so because they had been hoodwinked by “known” people opposed to development of the town. “It has come to light that there are well-known people in the community who are branding the construction of the donkey abattoir negatively in order to block investment opportunities that would bring employment to the unemployed. “The aim of such blockage is only known to them. The council therefore resolved to, in principle, approve the construction of a donkey abattoir by the applicant,” reads part of Outjo Municipality Resolution 42 of May 2017. The resolution gave Fu Hai permission to run the abattoir on Portion 2, Outjo Townlands, for a period of 10 years. Quivertree Consulting is conducting an environmental impact assessment for the project and has invited interested parties to submit all objections by August 31. Land has been cleared for the abattoir in Outjo. Interested parties must comment on the environmental impact assessment by August 31 In Outjo, community committee chairperson Lindie Prinsloo told Oxpeckers the council had ignored written objections and used “deception” to prevent community members from attending the meeting that approved Fu Hai Trading’s application. “We expressly asked to attend the meeting where the licence application was to be discussed. We were assured that we would be welcome as the meeting would be open to the public,” she said. “We called [the council] multiple times to confirm the date, but each time we were told there was no date as yet. We only read in the newspapers that the council met on May 15 and approved the abattoir plan. In doing so, they totally ignored the concerns we submitted for their consideration.” The residents fear that the abattoir, with a projected daily water consumption rate of 50 cubic metres, may worsen water shortages in a town that has an underground water supply capacity of only 12 cubic metres a day. The slaughter of a single donkey requires up to 2,500 litres of water, according to statistics from the Namibia Abattoirs Association. Prinsloo said residents also want to know who would be responsible for the daily monitoring of health and meat quality standards if the abattoir goes ahead. “Who will be responsible for daily abattoir inspections to check for compliance with meat processing standards? Who will monitor animal welfare and the reporting issues likely to arise from the abattoir operation?” she asked.