Butchers eye brisk business
This is butchers' time.
During the three days of Eid-ul-Azha, this breed of professionals is poised to make more money than any other ancillary businesses that benefit from a seasonal boost.
According to the meat traders in Dhaka, around 50,000 skilled, semiskilled and seasonal butchers are getting ready to do a brisk business by skinning sacrificial animals and processing their meats during the three days of the festival.
As dressing cattle and preparing their meats for cooking is not an easy job, most people who sacrifice animals on this occasion, look for butchers to do it fast and properly, creating a scope for them to charge a higher amount of money.
Talking to the news agency, skilled butchers said they would be able to earn more than Tk 50,000 on the occasion, and semiskilled and seasonal ones Tk 10,000 to Tk 20,000, as they were getting booked for preparing 5-8 cattle each during the three days.
They also said they would charge 15-20 percent of the prices of the sacrificial animals based on their sizes or Tk 200 to 150 per thousand of the prices, and Tk 800-1500 for preparing a slaughtered goat. However, seasonal butchers charge even below 10 percent.
Livestock department spokesman Dr Abdul Hailm said nearly five lakh cattle including cows, buffalo, goats and sheep were supposed to be slaughtered during the Eid in the capital this year.
Robiul Alam, secretary general of Bangladesh Meat Merchant Association, said there were around 7,000-8,000 skilled and trained butchers in the two cities while around 5,000 half-trained butchers and 2,000-3,000 beginners. Besides, there are around 35,000 low-paid workers like night guards, rickshaw-pullers,, and day labourers who will serve as butchers.
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