As Ramadan fever grips Freetown, the city is the busy with continuous hustling and bustling in preparations for fasting, prayers and breaking fast.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad according to Islamic Belief.
Ramadan lasts for 29-30 days based on the visual sightings of the crescent moon, according to numerous biographical accounts compiled in the hadiths.
This year’s Ramadan started on the 26th May and it will end in the evening of the 24 June 2017, though the dates may vary slightly.
Awoko went onto the streets of Freetown and spoke to businesses and customers about the economy around this Ramadan compared to normal periods.
Kroo Town Road Market is one of the biggest markets in the country. Butcher, Amadu Bah, has traded in cow meat for over 20 years. He disclosed that the sale of cow meat has dropped tremendously. Bah attributed this drop in sales to what he called “continuous hardship in the country”.
Bah said, “This has affected my business because the profit I have been making before is far better than now. Even customers who used to buy large quantities have reduced their purchases this year”. He said there is no increase in the price of a cow meat.
Mariatu Dumbuya who sells provisions (milk, sugar, luncheon meat, and sardine) said, “Sales have increased but I am not making much profit”. Customers are flowing in and out my business place but at the end of the day my profit will not be more than Le50,000. This is because on some items my profit is only Le200 ”.
She explained that during Ramadan, the prices are the same and there is even a reduction on some goods. “Before Ramadan, a big bag of sugar was sold at Le350,000 but it is now sold at Le310,000. A cup of cocoa was sold at Le15,000 and during the Ramadan it is sold at Le10,000”.
Kadie Turay sells vegetables and cooking utensils. She said, “Even though it is very difficult for people to boycott buying her product, there is a lot of grumbling of hardship from traders and customers. I have not heard of any shortage of goods in the market. Cooking items are plenty but the majority of customers cannot afford to buy things.” She said there is no price increase in cooking items during the Ramadan. Turay added, she hopes prices will not rise more than they have and that the prices will continue as they are.
A customer, Adama Kamara, said, “There is a lot of food around and there is no increase in the prices food items. The only problem is that there is no money in the country. We are suffering.”
By Emmanuella Kallon
Tuesday May 30, 2017.
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