After coming under pressure for the shortage of rice on the Liberian marketers Liberia Government has blamed the situation on the National Port Authority delayed to serve a ‘SAFE NOTICE’ to rice importers to maintain constant supply of the national stable for on the market.
For weeks now the price of a bag of 25kg pop-boiled rice has skyrocketed from $14.00 to $25 and in some instances $30.00.
Rice importers in the country say the cost associated with import and custom fees have since doubled and therefore they are constrained to increase the retail price of rice by$2.00,a situation government promised to solve by providing subside of $14million dollars to the importers.
However, since the government was delaying to fulfill such promise, the importers said they were unable to bring in new consignment of rice into the country as the price continues to rise on the local market daily. In a press statement issued by the commerce ministry under the signatory of minister Mawine Diggs, government claimed it has committed about $14million to rice importers as subsidy.
“The Government of Liberia over the last five years has worked with rice importers to keep the price of rice affordable for the Liberian people”, the statement added.
The statement added that in September 2021 alone, US$11 million was allocated for the 2022 budget as subsidy to importers. The commerce ministry said beginning October to early November 2022, about 150,000metric tons is expected to be in country in addition to 22,000metric tons that they anticipate in the coming days.
This is the second rare shortage of rice on the retail market since the government of ex-soccer legend George Manneh Weah took office nearly five years ago.
In the face of the shortage, there has been mix reaction to the government response to the situation in which some opposition politician attributed it to the lack of leadership and incompetency of the George Weah led government.
Disputed rice story
The spokesman for the National Port Authority Malcolm Scott, told a talk show late Tuesday evening that about 35,000 metric tons of rice arrived at the port Tuesday afternoon. His statement was disputed on grounds that the ship in question that reportedly brought the rice according to the NPA spokesperson has been at the port more than a month now.
