Traders demand raise in meat prices
Pointing out that the official rates of meat had not changed in seven years, merchants demanded on Friday that these should be raised in accordance with soaring inflation. Slamming the arrests of traders for violating outdated official rates as ‘illegal’, Meat Merchants Association president Haji Abdul Majeed Qureshi stated that magistrates should be restricted from carrying out raids and detaining sellers until prices were raised. Qureshi further declared the Sindh government’s decision to set cattle market timings between 6am and 7pm to be unwise. “Limiting the time during which citizens are allowed to visit cattle markets to purchase sacrificial animals may create a greater risk of spreading coronavirus, as large numbers of people would throng to markets at the same time,” he argued, stating that the markets should be allowed to open around the clock for convenience and safety.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2020.