August 4, 2016 By Ibrahim Jaffa Condeh
A senior official in one of the leading companies that import chicken into Sierra Leone, Pee Cee & Sons, has told Concord Times that the company has no link with those who imported cartoons of rotten chicken that was dumped at the Bomeh dumpsite, eastern Freetown.
Andrew James said the 40 feet container of chicken, which went bad before it arrived at the Freetown port and dumped at Bomeh, does not in any way imply that imported chicken was no longer good for public consumption.
“The chicken that we import into the country undergoes series of examination by the [health] authorities. We have not in any way been found wanting by them over what we import,” he said.
He allayed the fears of consumers, who report says have stopped eating imported chicken that the Standards Bureau and other agencies work tirelessly to ensure that imported foodstuffs go through correct testing and other procedures before they are placed in the market.
Public Relations Officer of Standards Bureau, Abubakarr Sallieu Bah, told Concord Times that an investigation was being conducted by the Office of National Security (ONS), Standards Bureau and other authorities to ascertain how come the rotten chicken was carelessly dumped at the garbage site.
There was a mad rush at the dumpsite when news made the rounds that decomposed chicken had been dumped there. Scavengers had a field day, until security officials scooped in to stop the melee. Some arrests were said to have been made by the police, although no one has yet been charged, while the identity of the importer remains unknown.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Kamara of Sierra Aker Food Processing Company has underscored the need to properly examine imported chicken before placing them on the market for public consumption.