KARACHI, Nov 22: Most of meat shops in the city reopened on Saturday as the Meat Merchants Welfare Association (MMWA) put off its 23-day strike till Eid days.

Though a breakaway group of the association had succeeded in persuading its like-minded meat sellers to reopen their shops last week, most of the shops had remained closed till Friday.

The strike was prompted by a dispute, over meat prices during Ramazan, between the association and the city government.

After failure of its talks with the city government and also seeking a relief from a court of law, the association decided on Friday to comply with the city government’s order for the time being.

A survey conducted on Saturday showed that though a considerable number of shops were open, there was only grade B mutton put on sale, an apparent bid to manage and maintain the sales as per the city government’s prescribed rates.

One of the wholesalers told APP that it was not possible for the retailers to sell grade A meat at the notified rates.

The survey also shows that the sale of beef has picked up in the last few days and it was available at fixed prices in ample quantity at the retail outlets.

The places where meat was available for sale on Saturday included Empress Market, New Town, Liaquatabad Supermarket and the markets and outlets in DHA, Clifton, Tariq Road, Burns Road, Soldier Bazaar, Haidery and Federal B Area.—APP