The scarcity of meat in the markets across the country has now been resolved thanks to some smart strategies put up by the Gambia Livestock Marketing Agency (GLMA).

In an interview with the Daily Observer, Dr. Demba Jallow, the director general of the Gambia Livestock Marketing Agency, revealed that the scarcity of meat in all regions was due to the lack of cattle in the country. Therefore, he revealed, his office in collaboration with Trust Bank gave six hundred thousand dalasis (D600, 000) loan to each region in the country to facilitate the availability of meat across the country.

He added that Gambian butchers are also given cattle as loan to slaughter and sell the meat at the stipulated prices.He said the agency itself has cattle that are being sold within the range of D8, 000 and D15, 000 different from the price of the cattle dealers, who sell their cattle at the price range of D14,000 and D18, 000 per cattle.

The GLMA director then called on the general public to report any butcher who sells a kilo of meat and steak, and meat and bone beyond D80 and D60 respectively, as well as mutton and goat meat, which all cost D80 per kg. He disclosed that the agency is trying to  bring more cattle from Mauritania and other places to meet the demands  of the public with regards to the supply of meat.

Dilating on the issue of their disallowing non-Gambians to directly   involved in slaughtering animals, Dr. Jallow said that it is a good method of controlling and checking on the type of meat sold in the country. He concluded by thanking journalists and advising them to always be in consultation with his agency on the current meat issue.