The Benue State House of Assembly has banned the use of tyres and other harmful materials used in singeing (roasting) meat in the state due to health hazards posed by the practice.
The House also directed that, henceforth, butchers/slaughterers should use firewood instead of tyres, kerosene or any other harmful substances for roasting meat.
Furthermore, the Assembly called on the State Ministry of Health and Human Services and the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources to effectively regulate the activities of butchers and abattoirs in Makurdi and other parts of the State to forestall health and environmental hazards.
Speaker, Mr Terkimbi Ikyange (Ushongo/APC), announced the resolutions after a debate on a Motion of Urgent Public Importance moved by Mr Ianna Jato (Katsina Ala East/PDP) titled: “Hazards of Roasting meat with Tyres” during plenary on Thursday, September 21, 2017.
In the lead debate, Mr Jato noted that the practice of singeing (roasting) meat with scrap or disused tyres at slaughter house or abattoirs constitutes dangerous health and environmental hazards to both humans and the environment.
He stated that tyres are made of synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric, wire, carbon black and other chemical components which are unhealthy for human consumption.
He informed that a research conducted in 2008 as reported in the African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology revealed the existence of high level of metal residues in goat and cow hides, after being singed with scrap tyres, which is unsafe for consumption.
“Tyres as non-biodegradable combustible materials, when subjected to combustible smoke and released to the atmosphere, become toxic and if ingested, pose threats to life through liver damages, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, etc,” he said.
In their separate contributions to the debate, Mr Bem Mngutyo (Tarka/APC), Mr Terhemba Chabo (Gboko West/APC), Mrs Ngohemba Agaigbe (Gboko East/APC) and Dr Adoga Onah (Oju I/PDP), who condemned the use of tyres in processing meat, called for a stop to the practice.
By Damian Daga, Makurdi
