Rajshahi Correspondent :
The businessmen of Rajshahi are fearing smuggling of rawhide across the border since the prices fixed by the tanners are low this year.
Rajshahi District Administration, however, has directed the law enforcement agencies earlier to take strict measure so that no hide is smuggled across the border.
Hide traders in Rajshahi informed, they used to invest a huge sum of money for the purpose of hide trading round the year but only during the Eid-ul-Azha hide worth Tk 200-220 million is purchased by the local traders from various places of the district. They further said, they have to sell rawhide to tannery owners on credit.
They will not be able to realise the price of earlier supplied hide before the next Eid-ul-Azha that is why they have to invest money afresh to purchase rawhide during this Eid. President of Rajshahi District Hide Traders Association Rustom Ali informed, during this Eid, 30,000-35,000 cows, 80,000-110,000 goats, 700-800 buffaloes, 4,000 rams were slaughtered in the district and the hides of those slaughtered animals were sold on the spot to the middlemen and their agents by the owners of those animals.
He further said, during the days before Eid-ul-Azha of previous years, leading officials of district administration used to hold meeting with hide traders to resist smuggling of hide.
But, he said, this year no such meeting with the hide traders and local administration was held.
This year also due to menace of middlemen and their agents, the real hide traders of the district failed to purchase hide from the fields at a reasonable price.
He also said, due to a low price of hide fixed by the government, the hide traders will incur a further loss this year because the middlemen and their agents never purchase hide by measuring it in square foot.
They purchase those hide on an estimated high price and fail to sell those at the government fixed price to the wholesale hide traders. As a result, they used to pile those hides to various bordering villages and smuggle those through local agents.
It is learnt, in India, the price of hide is Tk 30-40 higher per foot in Indian Rupees than that of Bangladesh. Thus, the middlemen and smugglers used to smuggle those hide to India for a windfall profit. As a result, local hide traders failed to purchase sufficient number of hides for the tanneries.
Major Kamrul Hasan, Commander in charge of BGB, 37-battalion, Rajshahi informed, BGB remained alert to check smuggling of rawhide through the bordering routes after the Eid-ul-Azha.
Majbah Uddin Chowdhury, Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi informed, as there was a clear instruction from the concerned ministry to check smuggling of rawhide after the Eid-ul-Azha, no meeting was required to hold with the hide traders of Rajshahi this year.
The businessmen of Rajshahi are fearing smuggling of rawhide across the border since the prices fixed by the tanners are low this year.
Rajshahi District Administration, however, has directed the law enforcement agencies earlier to take strict measure so that no hide is smuggled across the border.
Hide traders in Rajshahi informed, they used to invest a huge sum of money for the purpose of hide trading round the year but only during the Eid-ul-Azha hide worth Tk 200-220 million is purchased by the local traders from various places of the district. They further said, they have to sell rawhide to tannery owners on credit.
They will not be able to realise the price of earlier supplied hide before the next Eid-ul-Azha that is why they have to invest money afresh to purchase rawhide during this Eid. President of Rajshahi District Hide Traders Association Rustom Ali informed, during this Eid, 30,000-35,000 cows, 80,000-110,000 goats, 700-800 buffaloes, 4,000 rams were slaughtered in the district and the hides of those slaughtered animals were sold on the spot to the middlemen and their agents by the owners of those animals.
He further said, during the days before Eid-ul-Azha of previous years, leading officials of district administration used to hold meeting with hide traders to resist smuggling of hide.
But, he said, this year no such meeting with the hide traders and local administration was held.
This year also due to menace of middlemen and their agents, the real hide traders of the district failed to purchase hide from the fields at a reasonable price.
He also said, due to a low price of hide fixed by the government, the hide traders will incur a further loss this year because the middlemen and their agents never purchase hide by measuring it in square foot.
They purchase those hide on an estimated high price and fail to sell those at the government fixed price to the wholesale hide traders. As a result, they used to pile those hides to various bordering villages and smuggle those through local agents.
It is learnt, in India, the price of hide is Tk 30-40 higher per foot in Indian Rupees than that of Bangladesh. Thus, the middlemen and smugglers used to smuggle those hide to India for a windfall profit. As a result, local hide traders failed to purchase sufficient number of hides for the tanneries.
Major Kamrul Hasan, Commander in charge of BGB, 37-battalion, Rajshahi informed, BGB remained alert to check smuggling of rawhide through the bordering routes after the Eid-ul-Azha.
Majbah Uddin Chowdhury, Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi informed, as there was a clear instruction from the concerned ministry to check smuggling of rawhide after the Eid-ul-Azha, no meeting was required to hold with the hide traders of Rajshahi this year.
