Municipal plans in place to protect public health during sacrifice season

AMMAN –– The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) will take a series of measures to protect public health and the environment during the upcoming sacrifice season, a GAM official said on Saturday.  

With the approach of Eid Al Adha, which will start in the fourth week of September, according to the Islamic calendar, GAM plans to intensify its monitoring process to make sure that the slaughtering of livestock, a ritual associated with the religious holiday, is done according to regulations and in a way that will not harm public health, said Basem Tarawneh, deputy director for districts and environmental affairs at GAM. 

The feast of the sacrifice marks the end of the pilgrimage season, when Muslims of sufficient means are required to sacrifice livestock in remembrance of Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail to God.

“We recently defined a number of locations for vendors to sell their sheep and people to do the slaughtering. We tried as much as possible to ensure that the locations are far from main streets so that no traffic jams will result,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

GAM annually designates locations around the capital to sell and slaughter sacrifices for Eid Al Adha to prevent the phenomenon of random slaughterhouses and commit traders and cattle owners to public hygiene standards.

Abdul Majeed Oudwan, GAM’s executive director for markets, said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times that the municipality has designated 14 locations in the capital such as Basman, Shafa Badran, KhreibetAl Souq, Suweilieh, Bader, Nazzal, Muqabalin, Naser, Marj Al Hamam, Ras Al Ain, Qweismeh and Marka in addition to official slaughterhouses in Madonah and Ain Ghazal in eastern Amman.

He noted that the time of registration at these venues will be announced soon. 

Tarawneh said tanks will be built underground to collect the blood and a number of sanitation workers will be deployed at these locations to make sure of the cleanness of the these venues. 

“Many veterinarians will be working at the locations as well to check the sheep and ensure that the sheep and other slaughter animals are not sick,” he added. 

He noted that GAM asks vendors to pay a specific amount of money for services and a refundable deposit to guarantee that they will abide by regulations. 

A total of 42,879 sheep were sacrificed in areas under GAM’s jurisdiction during last year’s Eid Al Adha, while 84,691 heads of sheep were sold at designated pens in the capital, according to the municipality.

A total of 7,000 heads of cattle were slaughtered and presented to 14,000 underprivileged families under a Royal makruma, in addition to slaughtering 600 lambs for donations through Tkiyet Um Ali, a charity fighting hunger in the community.

Tarawneh also called on people to buy from the locations GAM defines.