Red meat crisis hits Dhaka residents hard
It was one of the happiest days for Kazi Mashiur Rahman yesterday as it was the wedding day of his beloved youngest daughter Khushi.
The Rahman family had made all arrangements for a traditional Old Dhaka gala wedding on Larmini Street in Wari where hundreds of guests had been invited.
With all the nitty-gritty details of the big day already taken care of, an eleventh-hour crisis sunk the father's heart to rock bottom -- there is no red meat in the market.
What he would treat his guests with, Kazi pondered.
Being desperate to save the day, Kazi scurried to the cattle market in Gabtoli and bought a cow for the wedding feast.
A pale and weary Kazi was found wiping the sweat off his eyebrows while trying to hastily finish preparations for the wedding and at the same time explaining his ordeal to the Daily Star last evening.
The red meet crisis hit Dhaka residents hard when meat traders went on a six-day strike last Monday, protesting "overcharging" of fees (hasil) by the lessee at Gabtoli cattle market, the prime source of red meat in the city.
The crisis deepened on the weekend when the demand is usually high for the high-protein commodity in a family meal.
With shutters closed at most of the butcher shops, the demand for red meat has been increasing all around the city.
If the red meat was found at any store, it was selling at an exorbitant price.
Several of the chain grocery outlets such as Meena Bazar and Swapno had been carrying the item, but their prices ran as high as Tk 545 a kg for beef and Tk 799 a kg for mutton.
A Swapno official told The Daily Star seeking anonymity that under normal circumstances, his store sells around 300 kg of beef each day on an average, but “today, we could arrange only 50 to 60 kg for the customers.”
Saurav Rahman, a customer shopping for red meat at Wari outlet of Swapno, was upset to see a high price tag for beef there.
He, however, left the store after buying beef from the outlet as he had “family pressure”.
With red meat unavailable, demand for chicken shot up, triggering a hike in its price by Tk 60 per kg.
Amir Hossain Khan arranged a feast for his grandson's circumcision, but entertained his guests with chicken instead after failing to find beef at a reasonable price.
“Initially, beef was on the menu, but I had to adapt due to the crisis and make changes,” said Amir.
In the meantime, on top of the ongoing meat crisis, meat traders yesterday threatened to go on a nationwide strike unless their demands are met.
Their demands include cancellation of contract with the current lessee of the Gabtoli cattle market.
Another of their demands is provision for legal import of cattle from Bhutan, India and Nepal.
“If our rightful demands are met, we'll be able to sell meat at Tk 300 per kg, as opposed to the current price of Tk 420 per kg,” said Robiul Alam, secretary general of Bangladesh Meat Merchant Association (BMMA) that represents associations from the divisions.
The Ministry of Commerce and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) have called on the leaders of Dhaka Metropolitan Meat Merchant Association (DMMMA) on Sunday to discuss their demands.
“We have been invited to the meeting on Sunday,” Robiul, the BMMA secretary general told The Daily Star following a briefing at Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday. “If our demands are not met by 15 days, we will go for a countrywide strike.”
The BMMA leaders also said the strike would continue till Saturday and they would decide their next course of action after Sunday's meeting.
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