Fees for animal slaughter source of harassment for people
8 August 2006: A butcher’s license auctioned to individuals is a source of annoyance and harassment to the people of Chin state, as license holders tend to charge a premium as service fees or extortive fines for granting permission to slaughter animals.
Butcher’s licenses are auctioned to the highest bidder by the authorities in Thantlang town, Chin state, Burma. They have authorized license holders to charge arbitrary fees and fines. People who wish to slaughter their domestic animals have to obtain permission from the license holders on payment of fees demanded.
No body is exempt from the payment of butcher fees for commercial purposes or for family celebrations and in times of grief. Fees for butchering rang between kyat 10,000 to 15,000 for cattle and Kyat 5,000 to 6,000 for other animals.
People caught butchering domestic animals without prior information and payment of the requisite fees is fined Kyat 70,000 to 80,000. Meat of the slaughtered animal is also confiscated and failure to pay the fine invites imprisonment, says sources.
A Thantlang villager told Khonumthung, “Earlier we paid butcher’s fees when a domestic animal was slaughtered for commercial purposes but now we have to pay even for our own consumption.”
The butcher license holders charge premium fees and extort huge fines to recoup the bidding money. The people do not stand to gain by slaughtering animals due to the high fees and the fines.
“It is not profitable to domesticate any animal. We are only taking the trouble for the authorities,” lamented a villager.
License holders buy the animal cheap from the owner. People who do not wish to sell their animal to license holders’ sell it at a price below par in Kankaw, Magwe and Kalay Myo, sources added.
The authorities in Thantlang town auctioned butcher’s license in the month of March. The license will be valid for a year to the highest bidder.
Butcher’s license for swine was auctioned to the highest bidder who paid Kyat 1, 50,000 and the bidding started at Kyat 70,000. Meanwhile, the highest bidder who paid Kyat 40, 00,000 has received a butcher’s license for cattle and the bidding started at Kyat 1,50,000.
Privatization and auctioning of butcher’s license was introduced by the authorities in 2004. Charging of premium fees and fines is a common practice all over Chin state. - KNG
