Day 111 - 30 Mar 95 - Page 21
1 during the first week perhaps when I worked there. So, it
2 was a special time of year when they try to slaughter more
3 cattle than normally to make up for the lack of sort of
4 affordable spring lambs in the market, in the live animal
5 market.
6
7 Basically, we would have been slaughtering anything from
8 150 to 250, 300 animals a day (beef). The supply was very
9 erratic at the time. I would also like to point out that
10 the throughput as such, as a whole number, let us say that
11 during a week you slaughtered this many animals, it is not
12 a very educating number. The line speed is really what we
13 are looking for at an abattoir.
14
15 When an inspector goes into an abattoir, or when a
16 veterinary surgeon wants to consider the throughput, we
17 usually talk about the line speed. The line speed at
18 Jarretts when I was working there, they were anything from
19 45 to 55 an hour. The recommended line speed by the
20 Ministry of Agriculture inspectors for that particular
21 outfit was 40 per hour. Thus, they were working at a
22 considerable line speed all the time, considerably higher
23 line speed all the time, than was recommended by the
24 Ministry of Agriculture inspectors.
25
26 We have to remember that the inspectors come from the
27 Ministry of Agriculture every three months to EC licensed
28 abattoirs. They have no powers. It is the Official
29 Veterinary Surgeon who has all the powers in the plant, so
30 they can only make recommendations and suggestions so far
31 as the abattoir is concerned and they had made this
32 recommendation.
33
34 Q. Right, that they should reduce the line speed?
35 A. Yes, that they should reduce the line speed.
36
37 Q. Have they made, while we are on that subject, any other
38 recommendations that you were aware of?
39 A. There obviously has been a long list of recommendations
40 in the past which I -----
41
42 MR. RAMPTON: Can we understand whether this is hearsay or
43 whether it is something that happened while Ms. Hovi was
44 there?
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. Can you say? How do you know about the
47 recommendation of lower line speeds?
48 A. I read it in one of letters that the Ministry of
49 Agriculture had.
50
51 MR. MORRIS: But, presumably, it is your job to know what MAFF
52 has recommended in the past?
53 A. Pardon?
54
55 Q. It is, presumably, your job to know ---
56 A. Yes, that is why ---
57
58 Q. -- recommended -----
59 A. -- that is why I spent a whole day at the archives of
60 the Local Council reading through all the documents
