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.