Livestock traders at Al Wakra Central Market have reiterated their concerns regarding the spread of unregulated makeshift sheep market in particular in the Abu Nakhla area that undermines the prospect of their business and eats up their profits.
According to a report published by local Arabic daily Arrayah, the traders pointed out that the selling and buying transactions that take place on daily basis in Abu Nakhla area often exceeds the total sales of the regulated market at Al Wakra. They stressed that the barn owners at Al Wakra Central Market have complained to the concerned entities about this to do the necessary to stop work in Abu Nakhla, as sellers there enjoy a large portion of the local market shares without any due licenses, health certificates or any other obligations or financial burdens.
Accordingly, livestock traders at Al Wakra Central Market suggested the creation of a proper sheep market in Abu Nakhla, where licensed sellers and traders can practice their activities and avoid the ongoing slump they currently suffer at Al Wakra market.
Mizanulhaq Mohamed, a trader at Al Wakra Livestock Market, said that the turnout of customers who buy sheep at Al Wakra has been decreasing considerably and some sellers spend many days without selling a single sheep. This situation harms their business greatly as have many obligations to pay off such as a high rental value, workers' wages and other involved operation costs.
Some traders even have to sell their sheep at a very small profit margin that would barely cover their cost of operation. He added that due to the flourishing of the unregulated market at Abu Nakhla, some traders have left their barns at Al Wakra and stopped renewing their rental contracts to avoid more losses.
Nasser Abdulmateen, a trader at Al Wakra Livestock Market, pointed out that Abu Nakhla unregulated sheep market is attracting more customers and has taken away many customers from the official and licensed market at Al Wakra, even though the prices at the two places are almost the same. He suggested that some action should be taken by the concerned entities to create a new livestock market at Abu Nakhla to enable licensed sellers and traders to run their businesses there and avoid the losses due to the ongoing slump at Al Wakra.
Kamal Hussein, another trader at Al Wakra Livestock Market, noted that many of the livestock owners have started to desert Al Wakra Market for Abu Nakhla and sell their sheep there. Further, he observed that the turnout on the daily auction at the livestock market at Al Wakra has become very low and some days it is canceled due to the very limited numbers of participants.
