Amidst the uncontrollable rise in prices of basic commodities on the Liberian market, Commerce Minister Professor Wilson Tarpeh has promised to take “very radical measure” to ease the sufferings of consumers.
Minister Tarpeh made the statement on Thursday, when he addressed the weekly news conference at the Ministry of Information in Monrovia.
He announced plans to begin vigorous monitoring of prices of various commodities on the local market.
The Commerce Minister acknowledged hike in the prices of commodities, which is posing hardship for citizens.
“What we are doing is to develop a regime. Now as I tell you there is a regime at the Ministry. We must reactivate. That is, everything you bring into this economy; whether it is an essential commodity, we will tell you what is the maximum way you can sell it and anything above that you are in trouble,” Prof Tarpeh said.
Given the recent crackdown by the Commerce Ministry’s Inspectorate division headed by Madam Josephine Davis, Minister Tarpeh’s plan to deal with price control could well trigger hope among consumers.
The Ministry recently fined the Abi Jaoudi Supermarket in Monrovia US$75,000 for reportedly selling expired meat, chicken and assorted consumer goods on the Liberian market.
Abi Jaoudi was accused of violating the General Business Law of Liberia and the Public Health. In the presence of Journalists, truck-loads of contaminated meat, chicken and other expired consumer products were burnt and buried in land filled on the outskirts of Monrovia in recent days.
But the Abi Jaoudi Supermarket recently challenged Commerce Inspector General Josephine Davis’ claims that expired and contaminated goods were being sold.
In a statement, lawyers representing the Supermarket said:
“In the parking yard of the supermarket, the Inspector General, Josephine Davies accompanied by journalists saw a truck which was being loaded and thus had onboard some expired goods that were being removed from the storage to the corporation’s warehouse across the bridge [Bushrod Island] in order to create space for new consignments of goods in light of the limited capacity of the Randal Street facility,” ABJ explained.
But at the news conference on Thursday, Commerce Minister Tarpeh said that a robust enforcement of the Liberia’s General Business and Health Laws, promising regular inspections.
“This cannot be doing business as usual. The CDC-led government is not a business as usual government. It is not going to happen. We will have people coming into the market, disrupt the market and after disrupting the market they leave.”
According the Commerce Minister: “The law states in this Republic that anything you sell to the public must be tagged, you must put a price on them.”
Prof Tarpeh, who is also a lawyer, said the Commerce Ministry will enforce the law to the letter to not only control prices but also protect the health of consumers in Liberia at all times.
He said his Ministry will be working with other agencies including the Pharmacy Board of Liberia in the wake of growing concerns about the presence of expired and fake drugs also on the Liberian market.
“So, in the next 30 days after consultation, we will make sure that they are all endorsed. We will begin to implement that. And this time the prices will be both in Liberian and United States dollars. In fact, in the next 20 days, notices will come out for our general inspection. The inspection that was done occasionally will be a regular thing. We will be vigilant to know what is coming in, where it is coming from, the quality it is coming in, to make sure it is fit for human consumption or human use and if it is expired we will tell you to take it off the shelves,” the Commerce Ministry boss said. By our Staff Writer