People from different cross-sections in the trading industry have bitterly complained about the high cost of commodities in the market such as sugar, rice, cooking oil, onion among other edible ingredients.
Speaking to The Voice on Friday ,Jainaba Drammeh, a restaurant owner said the price of commodities within the Kanifing Municipality is too high saying she purchase goods such as rice, cooking oil and other ingredients to cook food in order to sell it to her customers but she have no or little profit.
“The high increasement of goods has become nightmare for me because I cannot score more profit and this is the only work that I am engaged, so as to sustain my family. Therefore, if I am not earning income our [her and the family] survival will be hard,” she revealed.
Amadou Jallow a shop keeper at the Serekunda market said the price of goods are too expensive, saying some of his customers want to buy foodstuffs so as to cook for their families but they find it hard to purchase the goods owing to the high cost of the commodities.
Mr. Jallow who also imports palm oil and other foreign goods said the high value of the US dollar and CFA francs as well count a lot on the expensiveness of the goods because all the business men have to change the local currency to other foreign currencies so as to import goods as they stop at the border.
Sadou Jallow, another businessman affirmed that the price of goods was lower in the last three months but now it is escalating frequently, adding the nightmare is affecting the advancement of the business sector as traders experience slow market and very limited profit.
It can be recalled that the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) recently pronounced the free tax to businessmen who imports goods in the West African tiny nation so that the price of commodities are reduce to the need of the masses.
Therefore, according to Mr. Jallow, he wonders what is the value of the free tax policy that the GRA imposed on traders who imports goods because if there is free tax for businessmen then the masses would expect the price of goods to be reduced as well.
He called on government to dialogue with businessmen who import goods so as to reduce the price to help the average Gambian to sustain him/herself.
Khaddy Jarju, a vendor at the Serekunda market argued that the condition of the trade industry is disappointing, saying all the goods are expensive predominantly sugar because she always gets D10 as profit in every bag of sugar when sold.
“My customers often complain of this issue but I cannot do anything on that because is the government’s duty to help the masses in this regard because we all know it was not like this before,” she lamented.
Author: Sulayman Waan
