Tanah Abang goat sellers still confident of sales

Tanah Abang goat sellers still confident of sales

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Goat sellers in the Tanah Abang area, Central Jakarta, are still
confident of good sales prior to the upcoming celebration of Idul
Adha, or Sacrifice Day, on Feb. 1, despite the recent scares of
mad cow disease and bird flu.

"In all my years of selling goats, I've never heard of anyone
contracting any fatal disease from eating goat meat," said
Mohammad Harari, a member of the Tanah Abang Goat Sellers
Association (HPKT).

Harari said association members had sold nearly half of their
Monday's stock of 136 goats and sheep in two days, although he
admitted most of the buyers were regular customers.

"We hope the sales for Idul Adha will increase, starting
Friday," he said.

The goats were mostly brought in from Central Java while the
sheep were from Lampung, Harari said. Prices of goats and sheep
ranged from Rp 500,000 (US$59.5) to Rp 1,000,000, depending on
the animal's size and quality.

"The (animals) have been inspected by veterinarians from local
animal husbandry agencies at several checkpoints between their
points of origin and Jakarta," he said.

An employee of the Tanah Abang goat and sheep slaughterhouse
at the Kebon Jati traditional market confirmed veterinary checks
were regularly conducted there. The market also had a strict ban
forbidding goats and sheep from Bogor since the anthrax outbreak
there last year.

As for competition from seasonal on-the-street goat sellers,
Harari was unconcerned. Seasonal sellers rarely knew the tricks
of the goat trade, such as how to keep the animals fresh until
their day of sale with green grass and just enough water, he
said.

However, he was concerned about rumors some opportunistic
wholesalers would start a price war as happened last year when
French retail giant Carrefour offered cheaper goats for Idul Adha
until the association protested its policy.

"We hope the rumors are not true. Anyway, we have also
'franchised' our goats on the streets to deal with the
competition," he said, as he fed a goat with grass and corn husks
collected from the Kebayoran Lama traditional market.

Alit, one of the "goat franchisers" on Jl. Jatibaru, next to
Tanah Abang area, said that he and his friends received 20 goats
from the association to sell for a down-payment fee of Rp 2
million.

Despite only able to sell two goats in two days, Alit, like
Harari, was optimistic his sales would increase as the Idul Adha
holiday came closer.

"It's always like that. Sales will usually rise three days
before the holiday," he said. They would put affordable prices on
the goats -- enough to cover their daily expenses and give them a
bit of profit.

However, Ibu Sabariah, a goat seller at Petamburan, seemed
more uncertain of her sales prospects.

"I've only managed to sell one goat since Sunday and I just
failed to sell this one," she said, pointing at a plump, brown
goat standing and bleating in front of her.

Fortunately, Ibu Sabariah's supplier in Sukabumi, West Java,
was her neighbor and she could return the goats if they were not
sold.

"But I hope I can sell each one of these goats," she said.