The Akwa Ibom State Government has begun the direct sales of garri at the Ministry of Agriculture grounds, Idongesit Nkanga Secretariat Uyo, to civil servants as well as other members of the public.
The State Government sells three cups of garri for N100 as against one cup sold in the open market.
It would be recalled that a day before the exercise, in an interactive meeting with market leaders, traders and government officials over the hike in prices of food stuffs in the State held in Governor’s Office annex, Wellington Bassey way in Uyo, the market leaders were charged against creating artificial food scarcity through any possible means.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Gloria Edet, at the event, said the direct sales of garri was in fulfilment of the promise made during an interactive session with traders and market leaders in the State yesterday.
According to her, “whenever we speak, we back up with action. The Governor has done so well through the Ministry of Agriculture. He has been giving inputs to farmers. If we give improved cassava stem, the output is garri. The idea behind the Government’s huge investment in Agriculture is to ensure that 80% of food consumed will be produced in the State.”
She recalled that the interactive session was a success as traders and market leaders agreed to cooperate with the Government by reducing the price of garri and other commodities in the open market for people to sell their farm produce so as to make food affordable to the people.
In her words, “the State government has been touched by the plight of the populace brought about by the slight increment in the price of garri and other food commodities and has swung into action to ameliorate the unsavoury situation.
“We urge market leaders not to prevent traders and farmers from bringing their items to sell in the markets at will, especially garri as one of the most commonly-used commodity/ staple foods in the State.”
She, however, condemned the situation where different unions prevent people from selling or sharing them into days thereby creating artificial scarcity. She also promised them that unnecessary giving of tickets would be looked into based on the traders’ complaint.
In his remarks , the Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Prince Ukpong Akpabio described the parley as critical towards the Governor’s food sufficiency drive. He appealed to market leaders to cooperate with the government to ensure that food is made both sufficient, affordable and accessible to all Akwa Ibom persons.
Earlier in his remarks, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Trade and Market Matters, Mr. Idorenyin Raphael thanked Governor Udom Emmanuel for the interest-free loans given to traders, appointment of traders as Special Assistants, PAs and for his investments in the Agriculture sector of the State, noting that tangible dividends of such investments are already being felt across the state.
Mr. Raphael frowned at the illegal activities allegedly perpetrated by most market union leaders which he said was responsible for the recent hike in the price of garri and other food commodities and urged them to desist from such evil acts forthwith or be prepared to face the consequences.
Akparawa Idorenyin stated that the market leaders have agreed to open the market for everyone to sell their food produce to avert food scarcity, adding that any attempt to stop them will attract penalty from appropriate quarters.
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