The Jah Oil Cement Factory in Brikama has been completely encircled by trucks on Thursday as the factory raced against time to meet the cement demands of its teeming customers.
A visit to the factory area by JollofNews has revealed widespread suffering among the hundreds of people, who have been stranded at the factory for lack of stock.
A long line of trucks stretched from the factory’s rear gate joining another line of vehicles at the front gate, which stretched for almost a kilometer.
At the time of writing this story on Thursday, Jah Oil Factory was literally overrun by trucks and overwhelmed by the sheer demand of its customers.
A visit to Jah Oil Factory would open one’s eyes to the pains that the Gambian population has been enduring as a result of the increase of the duty on a bag of cement from D30 to D180. Jah Oil, Salam and Gacem have so far failed to live up to their promises of meeting the country’s cement demand.
“Even if you bring Sahel cement factory here, it cannot meet our cement demands,” one industry player told JollofNews.
Some of the truck drivers, who spoke to JollofNews on condition of anonymity, appealed to the government to dispatch a team to the Jah Oil factory in order to get a full picture of the far-reaching and wide-ranging ramifications of its cement tariff policy.
Meanwhile, cement dealer Alhaji Babou Jeng has expressed his appreciation to Pa Njie Girigara for highlighting the sufferings that the Gambia population has been undergoing due to the tariffs. Jeng lamented that the masses were indeed groaning under the weight of the government’s policy.
Alhaji Babou Jeng said: “Thank you Pa Njie, thank you Pa Njie. As for me, I am profoundly delighted by your words. The truth is what God likes. If you had talked earlier, your words would have reached President Barrow. When they initially imposed the cement levy, how many people were involved in the cement trade at that time and how many are now involved today? You will realise that the cement duty has ruined many.
Since the introduction of the cement tariff, the cement prices have only been spiraling up but they never came down. It’s like they are working for a few people, it’s only because of a fistful of individuals that they imposed this cement duty.
Everyone is crying, the entire population is suffering. The introduction of the government’s cement tariff spelt Gambia’s death. Currently, cement is more scarce and more expensive. When cement was imported in bulk, every player was selling and scraping their little profits. And they would import again but everyone sells at their own price points.
Whenever there’s a cement shortage, everyone would come with excuses like they are not talking to human beings and they are indeed human beings. We get the gist of whatever word you utter and we are well aware which direction you want to go.
Anybody who loves The Gambia will speak the truth and anybody who loves The Gambia would want to see it on the right path. That’s what your utterances displayed. Your love is for The Gambia and you want to see it on the right track. There is too much deceit in this country. Currently, those players in the cement value chain have all been ruined.”
