As Gambians continue to spend more cash on cement, the Cement Importers and Agents Association of The Gambia has given the assurance that it would anchor cement prices down to acceptable levels if the exorbitant cement tariff is removed.
Currently, a bag of cement is being sold in parts of The Gambia at prices as high as D500.
The Secretary-General and leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, was apparently unhappy when he indicated to JollofNews a fortnight ago that it was unacceptable to sell a bag of cement at D500.
The Jah Oil cement re-bagging factory sometime this year significantly raised the price of a bag of cement, amid upheavals in the local cement market.
Despite its earlier assurance to the central government that it could help in stabilizing cement prices, Jah Oil admitted that it was compelled to increase its cement price due to external variables.
Like the Jah Oil re-bagging factory, other cement re-bagging factories have been struggling to meet soaring demands.
The Gambia government last year granted Jah Oil, Salam and Gacem a protected status to produce and import cement for re-bagging through the increment of the levy on a bag of imported cement from D30 to D180.
This tariff policy has rendered many on the cement value chain jobless. It has also been engendering nationwide and localized cement shortages since its introduction.
The UDP leader Lawyer Ousainou Darboe told JollofNews that any policy that causes hardship to the masses is not a good policy, highlighting that it’s unacceptable for anyone to sell a bag of cement at D500.
In its reaction to Darboe’s remarks, the Cement Importers and Agents Association of The Gambia said if the playing field is levelled, its members can restore price stability in the cement market, selling cement at prices that would not burden the majority economically insecure Gambian population.
“If competition is not stifled, cement prices would not spiral out of the reach of many. We can assure the government that if the cement tariff is eliminated, we can sell a bag of cement in Farafenni at D395 and in Kombo at D425 while we can offer for sale in Basse a bag of cement at D420,” the association said.
The Cement Importers and Agents Association of The Gambia renewed its call on the Gambia government to consider the wide-ranging and far-reaching consequences of its cement tariff policy on the population.
