Minister blames high sugar price on transport costs

The government has said that sugar prices are high because of high transport costs from production to market points.

Deputy minister for Industry, Trade and Marketing Lazaro Nyalandu told the House when responding to a basic question by Special Seats MP Regia Mtema (Chadema), who said Kilombero residents were buying Ilovo Sugar Company sugar at a high price despite the factory being in Kilombero District.

She said in Kilombero District, one kilo of sugar is sold at 2,000/-, while in Dar es Salaam it was between 1,500/- and 1,800/-.

The MP wanted the government’s stand on the matter, taking into account that goods like salt, matchboxes and flour had uniform prices all over the country.

Responding to the question, the deputy minister said in principle the sugar price was controlled by rules of demand and supply in the market.

He said the factory sold sugar to businesspeople at wholesale price, who in turn distributed it to agents who sold it in retail to consumers.

“This process causes price hikes, depending on the area,” said Nyalandu.

He said a sugar business system and other goods gave priority to big markets, which were sources of profit to sugar factory owners and business-people.

“So, in this sense a big amount of sugar, which is being produced, is transported to big markets in Dar es Salaam and other big cities and towns,” he said.

The deputy minister explained that the costs of transport can be reduced depending on the amount of sales, which could be done in a short period of time.

Nyalandu advised the MP to encourage Saccos and primary cooperatives to buy sugar in the wholesale system for them to sell it at a cheap price in Kilombero.

Meanwhile, the deputy minister told the House that about 101 containers of fake products were apprehended by the Fair Competition Commission in Tanzanian Ports and destroyed.

He was responding to a supplementary question by Chambani MP Salim Hemed Hamis (CUF), who wanted to know how the government was controlling the inflow of fake products in the country.

He said other countries in other parts of the world had been getting quality goods from China but not Tanzania.

Nyalandu said the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and the FCC worked to ensure the rights of customers were protected.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN