The Chairman of Cattle Traders Association in the Bolgatanga Municipality Ayeliya Apana, has said that the group is yet to be engaged officially as the spat between the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly and the Bolgatanga Butchers Association rages on.
It would be recalled that one of the conditions the Butchers expect to be satisfied before they relocate to the ghc1.2m ultra-modern abattoir, is for the Municipal Assembly to relocate the cattle market as well as the small ruminant market to Yorogo.
Meanwhile, when A1 Radio visited the cattle traders to interact with them, they said while they have heard about the standoff between the feuding parties, they have not been consulted on whether they are willing to relocate or not.
Mr. Apana explained that they have listened to the comments of the Butchers and do not understand why the butchers would involve them [the cattle traders] in their defiance against the Assembly’s move to relocate them.
The cattle traders disclosed that the butchers are able to go to several far off communities in search of animals. These animals are then transported to the abattoir for processing asking “if they can go to all these far communities to go look for animals to buy and slaughter, why would they suggest that we move and follow them to Yorogo? How far is Yorogo from Bolgatanga that they cannot come and buy the cattle?”
“The butchers want to avoid cost so they want us to move, so now, who should bear the cost? Are we now the ones to bear those extra costs?” they asked.
Quizzed whether the strike is affecting their business, the traders responded in the negative. “Strike or no strike, we are still doing business as usual. People are still buying cattle for their traditional marriage rites. Private people are also coming from Kumasi and Accra to buy from us. Nothing has changed. We are still selling as we were even before the strike. It is not even that the butchers used to buy much from us anyway,” they said.
Responding to questions about whether they will be interested in relocating to Yorogo, the traders explained that their current location, provided by the Assembly, is a central point that serves both the traders and patrons well, thus, relocating may be a bother.
Meanwhile, operators of restaurants and traditional eateries known as ‘chopbars’ have been hit hard by the current impasse between the butcher and the Assembly. They have thus resorted to transporting meat from Tamale.
Also, as the Assembly has begun receiving applications for new butchers and the Bolgatanga Butchers Association failed to move its butchers to Yorogo. The old slaughterhouse remains locked.
A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith & Samuel Adagom|Bolgatanga|
