CHATTOGRAM, May 21: Relevant traders in Chattogram have set a target to collect hides and skins of 400,000 sacrificial animals from the port city and 15 upazilas during Eid-ul-Adha.
According to the District Livestock Department, the demand for sacrificial animals in the district this year stands at 818,671. On the other hand, the demand reached 896,269 last year, while rawhide traders collected 415,351 hides.
President of the Greater Chattogram Raw Hide Traders Cooperative Association Md. Muslim Uddin said, "Like every year, we have set a target of collecting 400,000 hides of cows, bulls, buffaloes and goat and sheep skins".
He, however, said that the financial condition of many traders is very poor.
"Many of their establishments have closed down. Every year we have to borrow money from relatives and friends to buy the raw hides and skins of sacrificial animals. Many of the 112 members of our association have now left this business due to losses and have moved on to other businesses."
He further said, "We are now preparing warehouses to collect rawhides. We are also collecting salt. We need a lot of money to buy hides. For years, we have been urging the government to arrange bank loans for rawhide traders before Eid-ul-Azha, but haven't received this support from any government."
Traders allege that while Dhaka boasts about 170 tanneries, Chattogram has none except Reef Leather. As a result, local dealers are entirely dependent on Dhaka-based tanneries.
They claim that Dhaka tanners exploit this monopoly by refusing to pay government-fixed prices and buying hides on credit, often delaying payments for a full year.
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