Media Wire Express Correspondent
A total of 84 retail traders have been arrested for allegedly hiking sugar prices.
They were selling the sweetener at almost twice the price cap, hence the dozens will be arraigned to answer charges against them, according to Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe.
Addressing editors at the State House in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, Mr. Bashe said the traders were purchasing the commodity at 2,500/- to 2,800/- per kilo and selling the same for 4,000/- to 4,500/- per kg.
On the other hand, the minister said Tanzania is set to import over 300,000 tonnes of sugar this year as the East African state takes decisive measures to tackle the existing deficit of the sweetener.
Speaking at a briefing for editors on the availability of the commodity and the government’s actions at the State House in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, Mr. Bashe revealed that at that moment, a ship was unloading more than 25,000 tonnes of sugar at the Port of Dar es Salaam.
Mr. Bashe further explained that, through the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA), the government plans to import more than 300,000 tonnes of sugar this year to address the crisis.
“We will continue importing sugar through NFRA. The sugar currently being unloaded, as I speak, has been brought by a company that has entered into an agreement with NFRA, not an industry, because this is a matter of food safety,” he stated.
He reiterated that the problem stems from El Niño rains, which were predicted beforehand by the country’s Meteorological Authority, TMA.
Source:Daily News
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