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MARIGOT--After false starts, debates and long periods of dormancy when the file was shelved, the long-awaited abattoir in Mill Run, Grand Case, finally reached the finish line and was inaugurated Tuesday in the presence of elected officials and the operators of the facility.
President of the Territorial Council Aline Hanson in her address noted the then Municipal Council in 2001 first voted in favour of the construction of an abattoir before chronicling a time-line of events where the project frequently stalled over the years.
Although the building was completed in 2009 one of the main setbacks was the delay in obtaining sanitation and hygiene certification and various modifications had to be made, particularly in terms of the building's proximity to the adjacent Central Kitchen, which in itself was a point of controversy.
The 1,070,000 euro cost of the building was financed by Europe, the State, the Region and the Department, and in part by the then Commune of St. Martin. The facility conforms to European standards for hygiene and sanitation requirements.
The abattoir will be managed and operated by Société d'Exploitation des Abattoir (SEABAT) which won the public bid opened by the Collectivité in May 2014. The managing director is Emmanuel Gimenez Richardson who introduced himself and his assistants Steve Hodge, Javon Whit and Andry Cousinard.
Other speakers included Agriculture Project Manager for the Chamber of Commerce, Julien Gumbs who is part of Association pour le Developpement de L'Elevage et la Promotion des Produits Agricole Locaux (ADEPPAL), the Chamber's President of the Agriculture Commission Dorvan Cocks, Director of Société d'Intérêt Collectif Agricole de St. Martin (SICASMART) Rex-Allen Laurence, and Préfet Philippe Chopin fulfilling his last public engagement.
Laurence indicated talk of an abattoir went even further back to 1977 when the then Mayor Elie Fleming wanted to build one and it wasn't until 2006 that Laurence's father Lionel sold the land that the abattoir now lies on.
Now that the facility is open Dorvan Cocks appealed to stock breeders "to get active" and for everyone to support the initiative to bring agriculture back to St. Martin.
President Aline Hanson presented Emmanuel Richardson with a symbolic key to open the abattoir before cutting the ribbon to inaugurate the facility.
During a tour inside the abattoir, Richardson noted a six-month provisional sanitation agreement has been issued.
"We will be starting tests in June, because you cannot open just like that," he explained. "The protocols for slaughtering from the entrance door to the exit door need to be finalised, meaning although we have the know-how every slaughterhouse has permanent protocols established based on the geography of the building and how the equipment is set up, the positions and work stations.
"We do the tests in conjunction with the veterinary services and then they sign off on the final protocols. It's basically a flow chart that is being produced together and then we get the permanent agreement.
He added the abattoir has an operations manager, two employees and a part-time employee to supervise the animals when they arrive.
"We have an idea of what animals are available out there. Every animal normally has a passport and official documents about their health, since they were born, and for animals to arrive here all these requirements have to be met for European norms. So we expect there will need to be some adaption but on the other hand there are breeders who are completely up to date with the status of their herds. The animals will also be graded when they arrive in terms of quality, size etc. Once the animal is slaughtered the carcass is weighed on a fiscal scale and stamped.
"Further down the line obviously there will be locally-produced meats and by-products from the slaughter, commercialised by our distributors. Statistics will be kept to know what's doing well and what's not among the different breeds."
The cooperative SICASMART will be in charge of moving animals from the fields to the slaughterhouse and will compensate the breeders based on approved tariffs.
Julien Gumbs who conducted a tour of the abattoir noted five to six cattle can be processed in one day, or 15 to 20 pigs, and goats and sheep 30 to 35.
"The real goal behind this abattoir is to make agriculture another pillar of our economy," he explained. "We want local agriculture to supply 20 per cent of the population's needs. But we are also looking into poultry, egg production, vegetables, fruits, and so on. If we can achieve this in 10 or 15 years we'll be very happy."
Commented Chamber of Commerce President Jean Arnell: "St. Martin moved away from agriculture from the 60s when tourism took over but there was always a marginal amount of people in the agriculture sector. It is important today with public health issues that we have proper structure. These farmers will be able to slaughter their animals properly.
The Chamber has been working on a strategic plan for agriculture development that takes into account the next ten years. So the goal is to work with government so that fiscal policy and zoning regulation leaves a certain amount of land for agriculture development as well as tax incentives, and training for people in this sector. The Chamber is injecting a lot of funds into it. In the early 90s when the abattoir was needed the stock was about 20 per cent of what we have now so we really need to bring up the heads of cattle and sheep to a level that we can get a return on the investment."
