OUR BEST GUESS is many Liberians across the Country exhaled air of relief upon hearing President Weah when he spoke with confidence that the Country’s staple food, rice, is in surplus here and not scarce as it is being rumored.
THE PRESIDENT’S RELIANCE, according to him, is the importers, who told him that rice is here up to 2023 and so the reports of a shortage of the commodity in the Country are mere gossip.
“I DON’T BELIEVE there’s rice scarcity. I believe there is rice. We will verify it again. Don’t listen to the noise in the street,” President Weah told reporters shortly upon his return to the Country from the United States, where he attended the United Nations, General Assembly.
WE BELIEVE THE President would not have spoken with such a degree of confidence that rice is in surplus in the Country had the importers not told him so.
HOWEVER, IF WHAT the President said the importers told him about the abundance of rice in the Country is something to go by, then who is spreading the lies that the commodity is in shortage here, or did the importers lie to the President?
WHY HASN’T THE Ministry of Commerce spoken about this urgent matter being conversant of the crisis the issue of rice has brought to this Country in the late 70s?
IT SHOULD BE authorities at the Commerce Ministry keeping the public abreast of situations of this nature and not President Weah.
MEANWHILE, WE ALSO caution the President to handle this crucial matter with the best of care and not hundred percent trust what the importers told him, because, after all, there is a likelihood of unscrupulous rice importers, hoarding the rice to create an artificial shortage with the aim to profiteer at the detriment of consumers.
AT THE SAME time Mr. President, it is also possible that the rice importers must have assured you of the surplus of rice in the Country up to 2023 because they were sure of the arrival in the Country of a huge consignment of the commodity but may have been let down, thus creating the reported shortage.
THIS IS WHY Mr. President, we urge you to handle this matter with the best of caution because if news of the scarcity of the commodity becomes the reality, the Liberian people may think you misinformed them about a surplus.
IT WILL ALSO be a plus for you if rice is actually in abundance in the Country contrary to claims that it is scarce on the local market.
