*(Act No. 20 of 1973)*

6 PUBLIC NOTICE No. 7 OF 1998 *Published 27th August, 1998* *THE FREETOWN MUNICIPALITY ACT, 1973* *(Act No. 20 of 1973)* THE FREETOWN MUNICIPALITY (SLAUGHTER HOUSE) BYE-LAWS, 1998 [Margin: Short title.] In exercise of the powers conferred upon it by section 42 of the Freetown Municipality Act, 1973, the Committee of Management of the Freetown City Council, with the approval of the President hereby makes the following Bye-laws:— PART I—PRELIMINARY

"Committee" means the Committee of Management of the City Council of Freetown; "Inspector of Markets" means the person referred to in paragraph 7; "Medical Officer of Health" means the Medical Officer of Health referred to in section 29 of the Freetown Municipality Act, 1973; [Margin: Act. No. 20 of 1973.] "Slaughter house" means any slaughter house established by the Committee under the provisions of the Freetown Municipality Act, 1973; "Veterinary Officer" means the person referred to in paragraph 11. 7 PART II—REGISTRATION AND FEES [Margin: Application for registration.]

(1) Any person who wishes to be registered as a butcher or assistant butcher shall make an application therefor to the Committee in the form prescribed for that purpose. (2) The form for the application under subparagraph (1) shall be provided by the Committee at such reasonable fee as the Committee may determine. (3) Upon receipt of an application under this paragraph, the Committee shall consider it and approve or refuse to approve as the case may be, having regard to— (a) ability of the applicant to slaughter and dress animals in accordance with these Bye-laws; (b) the past record of the applicant with regards to compliance with these Bye-laws; (c) the state of health of the applicant; and (d) the number of applicants. (4) The decision of the Committee under subparagraph (3) shall be communicated to the applicant in such form as the Committee may determine. (5) Where the Committee approves an application the applicant shall be entitled to use a slaughter house. [Margin: Imposition of fees and dues.]

(1) There is hereby imposed for the use of any slaughter house such fees and dues as shall be fixed by the Committee from time to time. (2) No person shall use a slaughter house unless he has paid the fees and dues imposed by subparagraph (1). [Margin: Receipt of payment, etc.]

(1) Any payment made under paragraph 3, shall be received by the Treasurer or any other person authorised by the Committee to receive payment on his behalf. (2) The person receiving any payment under subparagraph (1) shall issue an official receipt or ticket for that payment. 8

Where the Committee intends to change the amount fixed for fees and dues at a slaughter house, it shall give one month's notice thereof by posting in that slaughter house a notice specifying the new fees and dues to be charged. [Margin: Notice of change in fees and dues.] PART III—MANAGEMENT OF SLAUGHTER HOUSE

A slaughter house shall be under the immediate control of the Inspector of Markets, subject to such directions if any as the Committee may issue from time to time. [Margin: Control of slaughter house.]

(1) The slaughter house shall be open for the slaughtering of animals and the dressing of their carcasses daily, through out the week, between the hours of three a.m. and six a.m. except on Saturday. [Margin: Hours of opening, etc.] (2) On Saturdays the slaughter house shall be open between the hours of twelve p.m. on the preceding Friday and six a.m. on Saturday. (3) Any person who wishes to use a slaughter house outside the periods specified in subparagraphs (1) and (2) shall apply for the permission of the Inspector of Markets stating his reasons and the Inspector of Markets may grant or refuse the permission or grant the permission subject to conditions: Provided that the Inspector of Markets shall not unreasonably withhold his permission.

(1) Not later than twenty-four hours before using a slaughter house, a butcher shall notify the Inspector of Markets of the number and description of animals he intends to slaughter. [Margin: Description and number of animals to be notified.] (2) No animal shall be slaughtered unless subparagraph (1) has been complied with.

The Inspector of Markets shall keep a register showing the number and description of all animals slaughtered and shall render a weekly return thereof to the Town Clerk. [Margin: Register of all animals slaughtered.] 9 PART IV—EXAMINATION OF BUTCHERS [Margin: Examination and certification of butchers.]

(1) No butcher, assistant butcher, attendant or anyone concerned with the slaughtering of animals shall be allowed to slaughter any animal or enter the slaughter house or the slaughter house precincts, without a health certificate which may be obtained from any Medical Practitioner. (2) A health certificate shall be valid for a period of one year unless cancelled sooner by the Medical Officer of Health and must be produced when required by the Medical Officer of Health or any official of the Health Branch of the Medical Department. (3) The Medical Officer of Health may at any time examine any butcher, assistant butcher, attendant, or anyone required to be in possession of a health certificate and may on such examination cancel conditionally or otherwise such certificate if he finds any such person medically unfit to be admitted to the slaughter house. [Margin: Examination and certification of fitness for consumption.]

(1) No animal shall be slaughtered except under a certificate stating that it is fit for consumption, issued by the Veterinary Officer or an official of the Health Branch of the Medical Department deputed by him: Provided that no such certificate of fitness shall be issued for any animal which is pregnant. (2) The certificate of fitness referred to in subparagraph (1) shall become invalid after twenty four hours. [Margin: Entry during hours of slaughter.]

(1) Except for persons to whom special permits have been issued by the Town Clerk for the purpose, no person other than officers of the Committee on duty or butchers and their assistants shall be permitted to enter the slaughter house during the hours set apart for slaughtering. (2) The Town Clerk may refuse any application for a special permit or cancel any permit issued by him, but may not do so unreasonably. 10

No butcher, his assistant or assistants or attendants shall be permitted to take any part in the slaughtering of any animal unless wearing overalls or aprons; kept clean to the satisfaction of the Inspector of Markets. [Margin: Clothing of butchers.]

All knives shall be kept clean and sharp and all other articles and utensils used by butchers shall be kept clean and in order, to the satisfaction of the Inspector of Markets. [Margin: Implements to be kept clean, etc.]

No instruments shall be used for slaughtering of any animal unless approved by the Verterinary Officer. [Margin: Instruments to be approved.]

No animal shall be taken inside the slaughter house until preparations have been made for its slaughter. [Margin: Introduction of animals to slaughter house.]

(1) An animal shall not be slaughtered in the sight of any other animal awaiting slaughter. [Margin: Animals to be slaughtered out of sight of one another.] (2) No person shall cause to any animal before or during the slaughtering of such animal unnecessary pain.

No butcher, assistant butcher or attendant shall slaughter any animal until it has been effectively stunned, and such stunning shall be done with a stunning machine or by any other method approved for the purpose by the Veterinary Officer. [Margin: Animals to be stunned before slaughter.] PART V—SANITATION IN SLAUGHTER HOUSES

(1) The meat from any animal slaughtered shall be subject to inspection by a Veterinary Officer designated by the Committee; and no meat shall be removed from the slaughter house unless it has been inspected by the Veterinary Officer designated by the Committee for the purpose. [Margin: Inspection of meat.] (2) All meat shall be exposed for inspection by the Health Branch of the Medical Department after slaughtering. 11 [Margin: Meat to be removed in approved van.] 21 (1) No meat shall be removed from the slaughter house except in the meat van provided by the Committee for that purpose: Provided that the Committee may in an emergency and at its discretion, and with the approval of the Medical Officer of Health, substitute another vehicle or vehicles or any other means of transport in place of the meat van. (2) The Committee shall have power to charge for the use of such meat van or other vehicle such reasonable fee as shall be fixed by the Committee by notice posted in the slaughter house. (3) The person receiving payment for any fees charged under subparagraph (2) shall issue an official receipt or ticket for that payment. [Margin: General condition of slaughter house.]

[Margin: Removal and disposal of non-consumable offal, etc.]

(1) The butcher and his assistants shall remove and dispose of all non-consumable offal, horns and blood of the animal slaughtered and they shall be responsible for sweeping clean any nearby drain after each animal is slaughtered. (2) The performance of the duties referred to under subparagraph (1) shall be supervised by the Medical Officer of Health or any officer deputed by him. PART VI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS [Margin: Offences and penalties.]

(1) Any person who contravenes any provision of these Bye-laws shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand leones. (2) Where any person is convicted on more than one occasion for a contravention of these Bye-laws, the Court which convicts the person shall, in addition to the penalty prescribed in subparagraph (1), order that the offender be prohibited from using the slaughter house either indefinitely or for a specific period. 12

The Freetown Municipality (Slaughter House) Bye-laws, made under Cap. 65 and published in Vol. VI (Subsidiary Legislation) Laws of Sierra Leone, 1960 are hereby revoked. [Margin: Revocation of Cap. 65.] MADE by the Committee of Management of the City Council of Freetown this *17th* day of *August, 1998.* DESMOND B. EDWARDS, *Town Clerk.* PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING DEPARTMENT, SIERRA LEONE *GAZETTE* No. 47 OF 27TH AUGUST, 1998.