Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - A goat trader in Banjarmasin brings in an average of 1,500 goats from outside Kalimantan.
Fais, the trader, here on Wednesday said that to meet the needs of goats in South Kalimantan he brought goat from Sulawesi, Java, and Sumatra.
"Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for goat is gradually returning to normal, around 1,500 heads per month," he said.
Mostly or about 70 percent of the goats he brought to meet the needs of aqiqah (baby birth ceremony), the rest for satay traders, and selamatan (a tradition of ceremonies).
So far, thousands of goats have been brought from Lampung and a number of areas in Sumatra. Also Jember, Banyuwangi, Blitar, and other areas in East Java, and South Sulawesi.
The delivery of goat to Banjarmasin from the origin areas usually using pickup cars or large trucks with a capacity of 400-500 goats per truck, then using roll-on-roll-off (roro) vessels.
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He recalled that at the beginning of the outbreak of coronavirus, the demand for the goat was around two heads per week or about eight per month. "But now in a week, we slaughter 80 goats," he said.
Fais said that every weekend, namely Friday and Saturday, he has to prepare more goat meat for celebrations, aqiqah, and satay traders than usual days.
"Because most people carry out celebration or selamatan and aqiqah on Sunday, so the demand for goats is quite increasing," he said.
A goat buyer in Banjarmasin, Abu Bakar, admitted that the presence of big traders, such as Fais, is very helpful.
"The entry of goats from outside the region will affect the price to be more competitive compared to local goat price," he said.
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