KARACHI, Dec 4: Meat sellers have decided to reduce meat prices from Thursday. The price of mutton will be brought down to Rs140 a kg from Rs150 a kg and that of beef (non-calf) to Rs85 a kg from Rs90 a kg.

Consumers, however, criticized the reduction in meat prices just one day before Eid, saying all through Ramazan meat sellers squeezed them and the government did nothing to protect them from dishonest meat sellers.

The decision on price cut was taken at a meeting between meat merchants and city government officials. The meeting was held on the instructions of City Nazim Naimatullah Khan.

Meat merchants had agreed to reduce prices. The new prices would be effective till Dec 12, an official of the city government, who attended the meeting, said.

Meat merchants had approached the City Nazim to protest against the attitude of city government officials during price checking and imposition of heavy fines on meat sellers for overcharging. Meat merchants had expressed their inability to cut prices, but the City Nazim asked them to lower prices on the occasion of Eid.

It remains to be seen how the city government’s machinery monitors the implementation of the new prices on Thursday as, consumers say, most meat sellers will try to fleece consumers on the last day of Ramazan before Eid when people buy meat in large quantities. Consumers base this assumption on their past experience.

The District Officer, Enterprise and Investment Promotion (EIP), city government, Major Syed Fashihuddin, told Dawn that the representative of the Meat Merchants Welfare Association Karachi (MMWAK) had asked us to fine those found overcharging on Thursday.

At the meeting meat merchants told the City Nazim that the rise in meat prices was due to a shortage of animals in the country, which they attributed to smuggling of animals to Afghanistan, sale of meat on meatless days and frequent exports.

To address the problems, the City Nazim has set up a committee with the Executive District Officer, E&IP of the city government, as its convener, which also includes the EDO Revenue, EDO Agriculture, District Officers, representatives of the city government and some members of the meat merchants association to look into the problems.

The committee will meet the next Thursday to review the four basic problems confronting meat sellers. Representatives of the government asked the meat merchants to provide them a list of illegal slaughterhouses so that immediate steps could be taken. Then raids would be conducted in various areas to stop the sale of meat on meatless days.

About smuggling of meat to Afghanistan, city government officials said this issue would be referred to other provinces so that they could take notice of the situation, and the matter export of live animals would be discussed with the chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau.

About the legal status of the MMWAK, meat merchants said they would submit the details to the city government next week.

The general secretary of the MMWAK, Iqbal Qureishi, said it was really hard for them to reduce the price of mutton as goat (12-13kg weight) now cost Rs2,500 as compared to Rs2,000 a few months back, but the mutton price had been reduced.

POULTRY: Poultry dealers did not announce any price cut on Wednesday.