Close slaughterhouses, meat stalls for one week from today: EP Governor

The Eastern Province Governor's Office has ordered closure of all slaughterhouses, butcheries and meat shops (except chicken stalls) for one week starting today.

They said the decision was made as per instruction of the EP Governor yesterday (11) and the subsequent WhatsApp message sent on the above subject.

According to the letter by the Commissioner of Local Government today, it has been reported that a large number of cattle had died due to the extreme cold weather in the Eastern Province during the past few days. 

Moreover, he said that there could be possibilities of illegal transportation of these carcasses to other districts under the guise of slaughtered animals and could be sold at meat stalls.

Therefore, the decision was taken to prevent such a situation.

Furthermore, the letter said the respective local authorities should take the responsibility or take action to bury all the carcasses of cattle in a public place to avoid illegal conveyance of such dead cattle. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)