Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir has said that many traders were unable to sell sacrificial animal hides at government-fixed prices due to a lack of awareness in preservation.
“Government had provided salt free of cost to support hide preservation,” he said while speaking to journalists at his office in the Secretariat on Monday and noted that insufficient awareness regarding proper preservation methods led to losses in many cases.
The minister said that hides must be salted immediately after the sacrifice; otherwise, they deteriorate quickly. As a result, many hides were damaged, creating various problems in selling them.
He added that the government sets prices only for properly salted or well-preserved hides. However, many individuals who perform Qurbani donate the hides, and in such cases, immediate preservation is often not ensured, leading to decay and loss of quality, making it impossible to obtain the fixed price.
The Commerce Minister further said that the government had distributed salt free of cost this year to support hide preservation. Despite this, negligence and lack of awareness in many areas prevented the maintenance of proper quality.
Highlighting the potential of the leather sector, he said that properly preserved hides could serve as an important raw material for the country’s leather and leather goods industry. He stressed the need to raise awareness at the grassroots level.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
