KARACHI, Nov 10: While consumers have been making a beeline to get mutton at Rs150 per kg from the city government’s outlets, it appeared talk of the town whether the whole exercise is Ramazan-specific or would it be discontinued after the holy month.

It has been gathered that the city government is willing to continue with such type of facilities in the interest of people but the meat exporters have some reservations.

“We are trying to create parallel outlets for the consumers on permanent basis,” Executive District Officer (EDO), Enterprise and Investment Promotion, M. Raeesuddin Paracha told Dawn on Monday. He said talks were under way with the exporters on the issue.

Meanwhile, City Nazim Naimatullah Khan said though the current meat supply and sales arrangement was meant for Ramazan only, it could be maintained after the holy month. “We are making plans to continue meat supply to the general public through this new arrangement,” he said.

The response from public was so overwhelming that it has resulted in shortage of meat,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tariq Mehmood Butt of the PK Livestock said that he would stop supplies of mutton as soon as the meat merchants’ strike was called off. “We have already conveyed this to the City government officials,” he added.

“We have put forward our terms and if met, we would be ready to continue the services,” he said while referring to one of the conditions i.e. abolishing the middleman or commission agent system. “The mutton price will automatically come down by Rs10 per kg in case the broker system discontinues,” he said.

He refuted the claim by Meat Merchants Welfare Association (MMWA) that his firm was providing supplies from rejected consignments. “We are conducting slaughtering in front of customers,” he added.

For exports, he said, 90 to 100 tonnes of meat was being shipped every month to Dubai, Muscat, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, etc.

General Secretary of the MMWA Iqbal Qureishi again claimed that exporters were selling meat which had been rejected by importers in Arab countries.

He said that he had asked the owner of PK Livestock to provide mutton at Rs135 per kg as the association’s members were ready to sell it at Rs150 per kg. “We are also ready to sell beef at a profit of Rs10 per kg if the same company ensures supplies,” he said claiming that the company was not in a position to accept the proposal.

He said that the MMWA had 5,000 to 5,500 members in the city. Assuming that at least three persons worked in a meat seller’s shop whereas about 15,000 persons had been sitting idle since the start of the strike and thousands others had no work to do these days.