DOHA: Some 65,000 animals worth QR81.25m, each with an average price of QR1,250, were sacrificed during the four days of Eid Al Adha, Al Sharq reported yesterday, quoting sources at Qatar Meat and Livestock Company (Widam).
It said demand for sacrificial animals was high and pushed the prices up by about 15 percent.
For Eid Al Adha, the company had imported nearly 45,000 Australian sheep last month, which were sold at a subsidised price of QR360 each through a coupon system.
However, people criticised the new coupon system and demanded its review, saying it did not provide them with the option to choose animals. They said the system was “time consuming” and might lead to corruption as many were reportedly seen paying extra money to middlemen to get the service done out of turn, according to local Arabic daily Al Arab. “The new system of issuing coupons for sacrificing animals was not popular among people. It was very time-consuming. It took me more than two-and-a-half hours in this hot and humid weather to avail the service,” Ahmed Al Masri, a beneficiary, was quoted as saying.
Another customer said the new system provided people with very limited options and forced them to wait for hours in long queues, while the earlier system allowed people to choose animals. The daily said the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in collaboration with Widam, had imported about 12,500 Syrian and Jordanian sheep and most of them were sold at subsidised rates of QR1,350 and QR1,080 each, respectively, while the same types of Arabic sheep were sold to expatriates at market prices ranging between QR1,500 and QR1,800 each.
The Peninsula
