http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=31488
Daily Star, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Thursday, April 10, 2008
EDITORIAL
The cruel hilsa joke - Adopt measures that were effective last year
IN these days of high staple price, thankfully going down by wee bits
though, that we have to bring up the story of hilsa might sound a
little ironical; but is it? For quite some time, the fish delicacy has
been an elusive, almost unreachable item, particularly to the
consumers of limited means.
No amount of imagination is perhaps enough to work out what the price
of a rather ordinary looking hilsa could be. It's really baffling to
learn that a couple of big hilsa could cost its buyer no less than Tk
4,000! The price spiral is being attributed to the Bengali New Year
which will be celebrated next week hopefully in a perfect mood of
festivity. Fried hilsa will be part of the day's menu and that
explains such rush for the fish now. But then we must not forget that
the day was observed in the past also with the hilsa lovers doing
exactly what they are doing now. But never did the prices shoot up so
abnormally high. After all, a hilsa costing Tk 2,000 may sound like a
cruel joke, particularly to those who were once capable of buying it.
Obviously, this is not the peak season of this popular fish. But can
the consumers hope that the prices will come down in the days ahead?
The government took some stringent measures like clamping a ban on
catching of small hilsa (known as Jhatka) and suspending ex****t of the
fish tem****arily. The moves paid good dividends and people could buy
the fish, after a long time. Also it is im****tant that the three major
breeding grounds be protected to allow the fish to lay their eggs.
The situation really looks grim this year. Nevertheless, the
government has to take the same measures that effectively raised the
quantity of hilsa supply to the markets. The law enforcers should be
alerted by the developments which show that the supply of the fish at
the moment is indeed very unsatisfactory.
As for the poor consumers, are they to strike off one more item from
their daily menu. But that certainly is not the answer to the hilsa
price hike. The price has to be kept within reasonable limits.
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