Hide traders in Rangpur, Dinajpur hostage to Dhaka tanners
Tanners' 'low prices' may encourage smuggling, traders say
EAM Asaduzzaman, Nilphamari
The quality of hides and skin collected in greater Rangpur and Dinajpur districts during Eid-ul-Azha this year may fall as local traders were compelled to preserve those in traditional unscientific process to avert loss because tanners in Dhaka are reluctant to buy those at 'reasonable prices', traders said.The rigid stance by the tanners may open the door for smuggling across the border, they said. The tanners just before the Eid asked them to purchase hides and skin at Tk 60 and Tk 40 per square feet respectively. But due to high price of sacrificial animals this year, their prices were also higher. They had to buy hides at around Tk 70 per square feet and skin at Tk 47, traders said. Harun-ur-Rashid, general secretary of Greater Rangpur Hides and Skin Traders Association, said availability of hides and skin during this year's Eid was also less than last year. Political instability and high price of sacrificial animals were the main reasons, he said. He estimated that around two lakh cows and one lakh goats were sacrificed during the last Eid. Traders collected over half of it and the rest is still with different madrasas and mosque committees, who also preserved those in the traditional process. Hides can be preserved for about 15 days by using iodine-less salt. After 15 days, salt is used again to preserve it for another 15 days. Hides can be preserved for about three months in this process but its colour starts fading and quality falls. Harun said small traders will lose if they supply hides and skin at prices offered by tanners. Moreover, an amount of about Tk 15 crore of 40 traders in greater Rangpur and Dinajpur from last year's supplies is still unpaid by 10 tanneries in Dhaka, he claimed. Kased Ali, a trader in Nilphamari town, said he has preserved the collected hides in traditional way as tanners in Dhaka refused to give the enhanced price. Mokdum Mia, a member of Rangpur Hides Traders Association, said he will not supply hides to Dhaka tanneries on deferred payment as last year's bill is still unpaid. He and many others have preserved hides and skin in the traditional way, he said. The traders said quality of hides and skin will fall if preserved for more than --- months. They urged the government to intervene to that tanners procure the stored hides and skin as reasonable prices this year to save the major export item.
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