Cost of processing sacrificial animals to go up

Sonia H Moni The processing cost of sacrificial animals will be higher in the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha as professional butchers have raised the charges they usually demand for this purpose that vary from area to area in the city. "I used to pay Tk 200 per Tk 1,000 of the price of a cow to a butcher for processing the meat for the last three years which has become more than Tk 300 this year," Belayet Hossain, a citizen of Shahjahanpur told the FE Friday. He said: "I bought a cow worth Tk 50,000 last year and paid around Tk 10,000 to a professional butcher for processing the meat. But this year I have to pay an extra Tk 5,000 to Tk 6,000." He added: "The city dwellers are very much dependent on butchers as most of the families are nuclear and do not have manpower to process the sacrificed animals; so the butchers cash in on the opportunity." Khalil Mia, a professional butcher of Shahjahanpur said, "The demand of butchers increases a lot during Eid-ul-Azha as this is the time to make some more profit." "I have to do the slaughtering and processing the meat with the help of two assistants. The cost of labour has increased while the living cost is so high now. So I have to increase the charge of processing meat this year." Sheikh Md Munna, another professional butcher who has an experience of 27 years, told the FE: "I am a butcher of Mohammadpur Kashai Samity. We normally charge the rate fixed by our samity, but we expect some tips from those who sacrifice animals." Around 15,000 to 16,000 butchers work in the capital for regular cow, goat and ram slaughtering. But around 17,000 to 18,000 butchers come from different places of the country including Mymensingh, Tangail, Faridpur, Rangpur, Ishwardi and Jessore during Eid, he said. He added: "These people come to Dhaka due to the high demand for butchers at the time of Eid. They are not professionals; so they can charge less for processing the sacrificial animals." Meanwhile, Bangladesh Hide Merchants and Exporters Association (BHMEA) President Md Aftab Khan said this year they are expecting 4.5 million cows and one million goats to be sacrificed across the country in the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.