By: Momodou Justice Darboe
Cement stores in Farafenni have run out of cement, triggering an acute shortage of the commodity in the general area of the bustling provincial town.
At the time of going to press, cement remained a scarce commodity in Farafenni, its satellite communities and outlying settlements.
The town’s only cement truck garage has been reduced to a ghost town as there was no merchandise to transport.
The Gambia government earlier this month said it would apply restrictive measures against imported cement, a move vociferously criticized by the local cement importers’ association.
The government had significantly increased the levy on a bag of cement from D30 to D180.
Local dealers expressed fear that this move would kill their business, engender job losses and excruciating cement shortage in a country that relies heavily on imported cement products to feed its insatiable domestic appetite.
The move to increase the cement levy has apparently swung the Gambia government into the center of sweltering criticism though it was praised in some quarters as some were of the opinion that the move would help protect local cement “producers” even though it’s only Salam Cement company that manufactures cement in The Gambia.
“The air in Farafenni and the environs is currently filled with despondence and frustration because neither the cement dealers nor consumers can access cement the way they would wish to. A bag of cement is trading at D410 because there are not enough cement to go around,” Farafenni-based cement dealer Alhagie Touray explained to The Voice when approached for comment on the cement dearth in the provincial town.
Many people, who spoke to this medium, expressed concern over the biting cement shortage in Farafenni and the communities around it.