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“Blood Water” or Zhantai Cattle Market Does not Comply with Health Standards

Every region of Kyrgyzstan has its own cattle market; Zhantai is one of the well-known markets in Bishkek. It is located in the Maevka rural district of Alamedin district, Chui region. On the face of it, chaos seems to rule here.  However, it has its own stable rules and everyone plays their role. A few groups can be found here: stock raisers who bring their cattle here, resellers who buy cows, sheep and poultry from them, and butchers who slaughter animals.


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 This journalistic investigation was prepared as part of cooperation with PolitKlinika.

 

ФОТО 1

 

 

Any kind of cattle can be bought and even cut in the cattle market. The slaughterhouse is located 4-5 metres away from river Ala Archa. It has a special waste water drain that leads right into the river. It drains off not only rain water, but also blood waste of slaughter animals into the river. The first one to post this information was one of social media users. To verify this information, we went to the market and saw that water mixed with blood of slaughter animals flows into the river together with waste water.  This fact was recorded on a video. It should be noted that the market works every day. And every day a considerable amount of slaughter animal waste is drained off from the market into the river.

 

Видео 1

 

Rats can be seen from time to time near the river, which apparently eat animal remains. During the shooting, a guy approached us and told he was the security guard of the market and tried to forbid us from making the video. “What are you shooting? Don’t shoot the market, go to some other place. You may not make videos here,” he said. When we began to capture him on camera, he said he would call the market director and left. We followed him and another man who said he was Zarylbek approached us at the market. He explained he was the relative of the market director and said the management was not available at the time. He also prohibited making the video. It turned out that the Zhantai market belonged to some Isabek Abdygaziev. But he placed the market into trust to his son Zhantai Isabek uulu. Now the son is responsible for all economic activities.  Once we figured out we wouldn’t be allowed to make video on the market, we sent our journalist as a buyer. He entered the slaughterhouse and said he needed to have the sheep butchered. He managed to film the animal blood splashing out of the tank and gets into river Ala Archa together with stream water. He could even film the moment when the workers of the slaughterhouse used a sharp iron rod to push the bowels and other animal wastes into the drainage pipe.

 

Temirlan Tabaldiev, inspector of the Interregional Office of State Inspectorate for Environmental and Technical Safety in Alamedin and Ysyk Ata regions at the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, explained that pouring organic waste of slaughter animals into the river is unacceptable. “One cannot pollute water. But some people do vice versa. Downstream, some people may wash their face with this water, or swim in it, or animals may drink water from the river. Drinking polluted water may cause a variety of diseases,” T.Tabaldiev said.

 

For reference only: River Ala Archa is a confluence of river Chu. It flows in Chui region through the outskirts of Bishkek, Maevka village and near the village of Orto Sai. River water is used to fill the Ala Archa and Nizhnyaia Ala Archa reservoirs. They are used to irrigate farmlands, where water flows into the fields via drainage channels.

 

According to specialists, the blood of slaughter animals that gets into open sources such as river Ala Archa may lead to horrifying consequences such as infectious disease, spread of E.coli, parasitic infections, and other, if the animal was infected with parasites or other diseases. The blood of slaughter animals can contain such infections as brucellosis, tuberculosis, bloodworms, echinococcus, and parasitic worms. The eggs of parasites live in the blood system of animals, thus the infected blood flowing into surface water becomes very hazardous for all those who use this water. In this case, the risk of getting infected with parasites is very high.

 

“Soil-transmitted helminthic infections are one of the most common infections. They are transmitted by eggs present in animal faeces, which in turn contaminate soil in the regions. If gardens are irrigated by water contaminated with parasites, helminth eggs can be present on vegetables in such gardens, and poorly washed vegetables can transmit such eggs into human body,” private veterinarian of Zhantai market, Talantbek Samyi uulu, said.

 

The residents of adjacent streets complain about the working environment of the cattle market. However, they did not want to comment this before camera. “It’s good the market is in the outskirts of the town. However, we have to deal with many things – the smell from animal remains reaches our homes so we can hardly breathe. We don’t mind the market, but they should not contaminate the river with animal waste. Slaughterhouse should be equipped with special tanks. Moreover, we used water from the river to irrigate our gardens in summer. Once we learned that they dropped animal waste into water, we stopped using this water. What if we get infected?” a resident of the district said.

 

When we were preparing our material, one more internet user posted a video of blood water running down the drainage pipe and of rats running around. One hour later, a commission was established to check the activities of the market. It was composed of the representatives of Maevka village council [aiyl okmotu], Interregional Office of the State Inspectorate for Environmental and Technical Safety in Alamedin and Ysyk Ata regions at the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, inspectors of Alamedin district office of state inspectorate for veterinary and phytosanitary safety. We didn’t get a chance to read the conclusion of the committee.

 

ФОТО 1_1

 

The director of the market, Zhantai Isabek uulu, said this video was filmed back in 2017, and special tanks have been used since then: “The market started its operation back in 2002. It used to be a marshy land here. The market was built on the basis of order No. 9 of Maevka aiyl okmotu. The aiyl okmotu allotted this land plot to us for development. We laid the road for convenience of locals, and also built the channel. We are not fooling anyone. We had the video examined by experts and found out it was filmed in 2017.  Back then, the territory was not developed in full. We admit this. Now we are dismantling some structures, and we have installed one more septic tank, now we have two of them,” Zhantai Isabek uulu said.

 

In 2015, the government of the Kyrgyz Republic passed a decree No. 377 “On approval of primary veterinary and health requirements to prevent animal diseases.” The decree reads:

The territories of cattle markets located near villages, town, residential places and catering facilities must have a 200-metre buffer zone.

– The distance between the cattle market and motor roads of district, regional and town significance must be at least 30 metres.

All conditions for the drainage of melt and waste water must be provided in the territory of markets. Waste water must pass through primary treatment and be collected in water tanks. For decontamination, water should be removed to special dung storages, which are located outside the market. These storages must be well-fenced and animals should have no access to it.

A fenced off ground with a covered disinfection point should be equipped prior to the market entrance for the disinfection of vehicles, boots, as well as for animal loading and unloading.

The territory of the cattle market should be fenced off along the perimeter with a 2.0-2.2 m fence and greened.

Zhantai cattle market does not comply with the said requirements. The motor road is literally five metres away from the market, and catering facilities and other food stalls are located less than 100 metres away. Zhantai market meets only stages 56, 69 and 70 of part 9 of the regulation on veterinary and health requirements to slaughterhouses, and stage 107 of part 11 of the same regulation. These items read:

 

  • Stage 56: a drainage system for melt and waste water must be in place in the territory of the slaughterhouse and in the vicinity.
  • Stage 58: a poultry market must have a special place with a separate tank and isolation tank for collection of waste water and for disinfection, as well as a quarantine zone.
  • Stage 69: filtration of the drainage system in the slaughterhouse must be installed so that production waste first passes through the primary mechanical treatment and fat waste is collected.
  • Stage 70: production waste of the diseased animals must be disinfected prior to the discharge to the drainage system.
  • Stage 107: cattle markets that are not equipped with drainage should have sanitation pits at least 50 metres away from cattle sale points.

 

Infographics 1 – Requirements to cattle markets

Infographics 2  – How Zhantai market is organised (violations)

 

The video from the internet might have been recorded a couple of years ago. But what can the market director tell about the video we recorded just recently?

“This is  impossible. Let’s have a look at your video. If you are telling the truth, we’ll talk to the slaughterhouse leaseholder. He’ll do as we’ll tell him to do. If he doesn’t, I’ll find another leaseholder. I don’t want people complain about the slaughterhouse every now and then. In 2009, I leased the slaughterhouse out to Azamat Kubanychbekov. At first, it worked part time. They slaughtered only 1-2 head of cattle per month. Gradually, in 2016-2017 the market developed successfully. My key requirement was to keep the market clean,” said the owner of the market, Zhantai Isabek uulu.

The market owner, Zhantai Isabek uulu, said the slaughterhouse inside the market is also leased by an individual. Its leaseholder is Azamat Kubanychbekov. He, in turn, completely denied the fact of slaughter animal blood flowing into the river, “The blood of animals doesn’t get into water. We have special tanks for it.”

 

Фото резервуаров

 

“During the Kurman Ait, many cattle were slaughtered and the pipe fell down. Previously, no blood was ever released to water. We have two tanks.  One tank is for slaughter animal waste, the other one is for blood,” A.Kubanychbekov said.

Deputy head of aiyl okmotu of Maevka village Islanbek Makeshov said he was aware of the situation in the Zhantai market. He added that the local prosecutor’s office rests all responsibility for the market condition on the aiyl okmotu. “We received complaints from local residents before. On the basis of videos filmed during the Kurman Ait holiday, we sent letters to the state environmental technical inspectorate, state inspectorate for veterinary and phytosanitary safety, state registration service, state agency for architecture and department of interior affairs of Alamedin district. The Interregional Office of State Inspectorate for Environmental and Technical Safety in Alamedin and Ysyk Ata regions issued an order for the administration of the cattle market to correct the violations. “Previously, we sent a letter to Private Entrepreneur Isabek Abdygaziev regarding the disposal of water from Zhantai market slaughterhouse to river Ala Archa. In this letter, we ordered that they dismantle the pipe that leads to river Ala Archa, submit trash pickup agreement and septic tank sanitation agreement to us. They did perform our orders,” the inspectorate said.

The Interregional Office of State Inspectorate for Environmental and Technical Safety in Alamedin and Ysyk Ata regions at the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic also explained that following the complaints of local residents on behalf of the head of Maevka aiyl okmotu, Ruslan Aliev, they performed inspection and found no facts confirming that production waste drains into river Ala Archa.  “When we inspected the market, its administration said that water drained into the river did not contain any waste. As the market had only one small septic tank, we ordered that they should install another one, which should be regularly cleaned. By results of our follow-up, we saw that the market administration was trying to follow our instructions over time. For example, they have installed second 8-tonne septic tank,” the agency said.

 

The market owner, Zhantai Isabek uulu, said he filed a report to the prosecutor’s office following the illegal inspections by the aiyl okmotu. “Maevka aiyl okmotu decided to close down the market without authorisation. How can the head of aiyl okmotu make such a decision without a special committee made of authorised bodies? We didn’t receive any notices that “some agencies would come some day to perform inspection.” The aiyl okmotu is not a court or a prosecutor to make such decisions arbitrarily. Therefore, I filed a complaint to the prosecutor’s office about illegal inspections held by aiyl okmotu. I should have received a reply within 14 days, but one month has passed and I still have no response,” Zhantai Isabek uulu said.

 

The administration of Maevka aiyl okmotu, in turn, said they made a decision to close down the market based on the complaints of residents.

We received many complaints about Zhantai market. Local residents asked either to close it down or relocate it to the outskirts.  There was also a video posted on the internet about blood water flowing from the market into the river. Therefore, we sent a letter to the authorities asking them to consider the closedown the market. “A special committee was established to inspect the market. However, we cannot make a decision based on the decision of only one committee. The final decision is up to the State Inspectorate for Environmental and Technical Safety and veterinary service,” the aiyl okmotu said.

Видео 6

 

Prior to the meeting with the director of the market, we visited Temirlan Tabaldiev, inspector of the Interregional Office of State Inspectorate for Environmental and Technical Safety in Alamedin and Ysyk Ata regions at the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic. He said the cattle market was inspected previously by the State Inspectorate for Environmental and Technical Safety and the latter ordered that the drain pipe leading to the river should be removed, and everything should be done according to health standards. However, the pipe was not removed so far. And we witnessed that all dirty water that is used to clean the animal intestines was drained via this pipe to the river.

 

ФОТО 2

 

“During our last inspection, July 15 this year, the market was closed. But the pipe was still there. On July 22, we sent a letter to the market administration asking them to remove the pipe and install the water removal pipe into the drainage. After our second inspection, the pipe was removed. And now it is there again. Once we have annual complaints about them, we impose fines on them. After the moratorium on inspection of private facilities was set, we may not inspect them whenever we want to,” the officer of the State Inspectorate for Environmental and Technical Safety said.

 

– You saw with your own eyes what was drained into the river from the slaughterhouse pipe. What are you going to do next? – we asked.

 

“If it’s clean water, the pipe may be left where it is. But now the pipe collects all the water left after cleaning of animal intestines. Also the pipe drains dirty water and blood left after the cleaning of the slaughterhouse right into the river. If you send an official letter to us, we will send the samples of water to a special laboratory, and then we’ll issue our conclusion. I cannot tell for sure if the river is contaminated or not unless I have test results,” the officer said.

 

ФОТО 9

 

The director of the market, Zhantai Isabek uulu, said if they remove the drain pipe, the territory of the market will be covered with water. “We did it because in bad weather, when it’s snowing or raining, the water should be drained off via a ditch. The blood, dirty water left after cleaning the intestines flow into tanks, not into the river, as you said. If we remove the pipe, where will the waste water flow to? We should create good condition for our clients, shouldn’t we? Or should we let out clients walk knee-deep in water?” he said.

 

The head of the Alamedin district office of state inspectorate for veterinary and phytosanitary safety, Chyngyz Sheishenbaev, said the market administration entered into an agreement with private veterinarians who should check the cattle brought for sale to the market. Such checkups must be performed to avoid contamination with various diseases. Also, he added that the market administration submits monthly reports to the general directorate. The private veterinarian of the cattle market, Samyi Talantbek uulu, said they check the cattle thoroughly for diseases. If they have any suspicions, they isolate the animals in isolation boxes for further tests. “The cattle can be slaughtered only if they have certificate No. 1A. If the animal has a disease, it won’t be accepted. However, we haven’t had such cases. I am responsible for the period when the cattle are brought to the market and before they are slaughtered. Every morning and evening, the slaughterhouse is being treated with chlorine. Animal waste is drained to a septic tank via a special pipe. Slaughterhouse workers treat their aprons, knives and boots with chlorine solution. They all have health certificates,” the veterinarian said.

 

Фото 12

 

The head of the Alamedin district office of state inspectorate for veterinary and phytosanitary safety, Chyngyz Sheishenbaev, added that every year they are trying to put the cattle market in order and if the requirements imposed on the market administration are not met, the market’s relocation to the outskirts of Maevka village will be considered.

 

 

Kymbat TURDUBEKOVA

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