The sellers and buyers of Gabtali cattle market say that since the lessee of the market extracts excess tax, the price of meat goes up.
The conditions of the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) state that general buyers will have to pay 3.5 percent tax on the price of the animal and 5 percent for four days prior to Eid-ul-Azha.
But throughout the year, meat traders have to extract Tk 35 for each goat or lamb, Tk 100 for a cow and Tk 150 for a bull.
Unfortunately, instead of Tk 100 per cow, the tax taken per cow is Tk 3,500.
A meat trader says: “To bring the cattle form the villages, we have to pay tax at several points and by the time we bring the cattle to the city end up paying Tk 15 to Tk 20 thousand per cow.”
To take the cow in the market, Tk 2,500 has to be paid along with Tk 600 for labour fee. If the cow is brought out then another Tk 2,500 has to be paid, said the trader.
“Then there is the cost for looking after the animal and these impacts the price of the meat.”
However, the lessee refutes the allegations about the extra tax and said that stipulated tax is taken.
The Gabtali market lessee says that import of cows is stopped at the moment but some cows come illegally due to the collusion of border guards.
In that system, a pair of cows costs Tk 6,5000. To bring the cows to Dhaka, money has to be paid for transport and other expenses. Then to look after a cow, Tk 4,000 is spent, which eventually impacts the price of meat.
Unless the border is opened, price of meat will not fall, say traders.
Meat traders say that instead of taking Tk. 100 per cow, Tk. 5000 to Tk. 10000 is taken which affects the eventual price of meat.
“Once the extortion is stopped, meat can be sold for Tk 300 per kg.”
Visiting the Hatirpool Bazaar recently, the DSCC mayor talked and acknowledged the extortion at Gabtali and observed: “there is rampant extortion at Gabtoli; once these stops, the price of meat will fall.”
After meeting the meat sellers, the mayor promised to look into the complaint of extortion.
Meanwhile, DNCC mayor, Atiqul Islam, said: “I will look into it and if the allegation of extortion is true then remedial steps will be taken.”