KINGSTON, Jamaica – (JIS) Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Commerce and Investment, Karl Samuda, has said that Jamaica Flour Mills will be importing 30,000 tonnes of rice into the island, as part of moves to stave off a shortage in the supply of the staple.
The Minister, who was addressing Hose Assembly and Supply Limited’s 21st anniversary celebration and the opening of the company’s third location on Hagley Park Road in Kingston yesterday (April 28), said that the imports will serve consumers for the next six months.
“We intend to bring that rice to the Jamaican people at a price that is competitive with the Guyanese rice under the same provisions that the rice from Guyana comes in,” Mr. Samuda said.
The Minister said that Guyana has been supplying Jamaica with rice for a number of years but “the supply chain has not been what one would call perfect, and it has at times been very challenging to those who import and the distributors who distribute. Whenever we find ourselves in that position, the persons who suffer the most are our consumers because the forces of supply and demand come into play, and as soon as there is a threat of any shortage of supplies, the prices start to move, and hoarding starts to take place,” he pointed out.
He said the move to obtain rice from a source other than Guyana, is in the best interest of consumers.
“We will not place the Jamaican consumers at risk.. I must take into consideration the conditions under which the Jamaican people have to live, and we are not about to place our consumers at risk,” Mr. Samuda emphasized.
Minister Samuda indicated that the matter will go before the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) meeting next month and “we will argue the case. But make no mistake about it, on my watch, as Minister (with) responsibility for protecting the interests of the consumers, I will not bend for an inch in my resolve to ensure that we protect our consumers.”
