500 tonnes of sugar arrive in Mwanza

The arrival of the consignment was confirmed to the reporters here by the Mwanza Regional Commissioner (RC) Mr John Mongela who said the commodity will be sold using indicative price of 1800/- as directed by the government.

He said the sugar, was bought by the City based businessman, Mr Pravin Shah who will sell it to both large and medium scale distributors who will then sell it to the public through retail shops. “We have already received 500 tonnes of sugar from Kagera Sugar Limited, which will be supplied by Mr Shah.

The retailers will have to make sure the commodity is sold in indicative price as decided by the government and not otherwise,” he explained. However, the RC admitted the amount of the consignment was still inadequate to cater for the needs of the Mwanza consumers which needs at least a total of 1,500 tonnes a week, adding the residents should use the little available sugar while the government arranges to distribute other consignments. He said that a special committee has been formed to ensure fair and quick distribution of the commodity including making sure it is sold as per given directives.

Moreover, Mr Mongela said the government does not have plans to distribute sugar free of charge to residents as some people have claimed. “We have received information on some of the people thinking the just arrived consignment will be distributed for free which is not true instead we will see to it that the commodity reaches as many residents as possible and is sold at 1800/- per kilo,” he said.

He warned the business people who will sell the sugar at a hiked price saying they risk being arrested and strict legal action taken against them. Apart from 500 tonnes from KSl, Mr Mongela said another consignment that was imported by the government has already arrived in Dar es Salaam and part of it was expected in Mwanza within the next two days probably by today.

The availability of sugar in Mwanza has not been good for about a month now with many areas reporting scarcity forcing the commodity to be sold at between 4,000/- and 5000/- per kg.

SOURCE: DAILY NEWS

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