Dozens of  cartons containing rotten chickens were found yesterday, illegally dumped at the back of Kairaba Shopping Centre's ware house opposite GACEM Company in the Kanifing Industrial Area.

According to labourers around the area, the rotten chickens raised an alarm in the area due to the indecent odour  making life difficultt for people in the vicinity . They further informed the Daily Observer that the rotten chickens were dumped at the said site by the storekeeper of the Kairaba Shopping Centre. "We reported the matter to the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) as we were very disturbed by the bad odour.

When Daily Observer visited the ware house, where the cartons of chickens were packed, most of the chickens were seen scattered on the floor were believed to be spoilt.  When contacted to shed light on the matter, the manager for Environment and Sanitation at the KMC, Edrissa Njie, confirmed that the matter was reported to his office. He said upon receiving the information, he delegated his assistant to go with a shovel to burry the said rotten chickens. "As far as you people have come to me and explained that the people around the area are complaining that the ordour is all over the area, the best thing we can do is to summon the owner of the place to our office and we try to go with a tractor and evacuate these spoilt chickens, take them to the Bakoteh Dumping Site," he told the Daily Observer.

For his part, Momodou Lamin Nget, Principal Food Standard Officer at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare condemned the act. He said it is an offence to dump rotten chickens in a clean environment, especially without the consent of the health authorities. He said the health authorities will visit the place as soon as possible and will investigate thoroughly before charging them under the Food Act. He advised the retailers and chicken dealers to transport the imported chicken cartons from the ports to their stores and from the stores to their business centres.

According to Nget, the temperature at which the retailers used their freezers should be -18 degrees, adding that  there should be enough electricity available for 24 hours. Two inspectors from the National Environment Agency also visited the site and confirmed to the Daily Observer that the Kairaba Shopping Centre will be charged for violating the anti-littering law and further investigations would be launched.

Muhammed Muctarr, the storekeeper at Kairaba Shopping Centre's ware house in Kanifing Industrial Area  confirmed to the Daily Observer that his company was responsible for the act.