BY ADRIAN BOODAN

Consumers in central Trinidad are complaining about a shortage of both flour and rice.

Housewives, doubles vendors and roti makers complained to the Guardian about the problems they encounter in trying to purchase these staples.

Couva housewife Vindra Gopaul said supermarkets in the area had run out of flour while others were limiting supplies based on purchase of other items.

She said when she visited PriceSmart on Wednesday, she was faced with the news that the wholesale chain, that caters to members who had to pay an annual membership fee, had no flour in stock and there were only supplies of Uncle Ben’s Rice and pet rice.

A notice to customers limiting flour at Quality Cash and Carry in central Trinidad.

Gopaul said the Government was too slack when it came to getting food for the masses.

“Since the Government closed down Caroni (1975) Limited five years ago, there have been no plans to use the lands for food,” she said.

“All we see going up on these lands are houses.

What about food?...we can’t eat brick and cement.

“We should, by now, have had local ground provisions flooding the market at lower prices and this has not happened.

“When is the Government going to see that we must reduce our dependency on foreign wheat supplies?”

Shayam Mohammed, a Central doubles vendor, said he had trouble in getting supplies of 45 kilogrammes bags of flour.

He said he had been forced by suppliers to purchase 10kg bags which led to added overhead costs.

Mohammed, who sells doubles at $3, said he was struggling to maintain the product at that price.

He said the increase in flour prices, coupled with price hikes in cooking oil and split peas, would mean that the price of a doubles could reach to $5 by the end of the year.

He said some doubles vendors in Chaguanas had already jacked up prices.

Feroze Khan, chief executive officer of the Quality Cash and Carry chain of supermarkets, said the shortage of flour came with the temporary closure of the Nutrimix Flour Mill at Point Lisas.

He said he had taken the decision to limit supplies to one bag per customer to ensure that there was even distribution of the product.

Khan said there was a shortage of 2kg packets of flour.

He advised consumers not to panic buy.

However, he said National Flour Mills (NFM) was not delivering its supplies fast enough to cope with the demand.

Rice hard to get

Consumers also complained about a shortage of rice.

A Central-based rice distribution company, that does not wish to me named, said it had run out of the product for the last two weeks.

Deodath Ramsaran, purchasing manager at Xtra Foods Supermarket, said his grocery usually sold three tonnes of flour weekly at both its Chaguanas and Grand Bazaar outlets.

Ramsaran said he had been in close contact with officials at the NFM.

He said the NFM may take some time to put its infrastructure in place to pick up the slack since the closure of the Nutrimix.

Ramsaran said NFM had previously supplied the entire market before Nutrimix came on-stream.

He predicted that NFM should be able to meet demand in about a month.

Ramsaran said local rice suppliers, who imported rice from Guyana, were faced with dwindling supplies since Guyanese rice exporters were now selling their rice to European markets for a higher price.

Pradeep Sawh, general manager of Nutrimix Flour Mills, said the plant should be up and running in two months.

Sawh said the plant was closed to do expansion work and noted that there was a notice in the newspaper.

Sawh said he believed that NFM should get its distribution and production infrastructure in place within a month to take up the slack.

He said Nutrimix was receiving calls from concerned consumers.

Sawh said the price of wheat, freight and customs charges were the main factors pushing up the price of flour.

This consumer is pleased to take home a bag of flour. Photo: Adrian Boodan	Disgruntled doublesman Shayam Mohammed