Garri price shoots up – survey

Asaba  Few days after the Christmas and New Year festivities, the price of `garri’, a staple food, has shut up in Asaba, the Delta capital and environs.

A survey by NAN, weekend, showed that the price of a paint bucketful of the commodity had risen to N400 from the N300. Similarly, a cup of the commodity now sells at N50 as against N30 at last week.

Mrs Preye Obuseh, a garri dealer at Ogbeogonogo Market in Asaba, attributed the price increase to the scarcity of cassava occasioned by the recent flood disaster in parts of the state.

According to her, most farms were destroyed and that has made the supply of garri far below its demand. However, other food items maintained the Yuletide period prices in the area.

For instance, the price of a 50-kg bag of “Mama Gold” brand of rice remained at N10,700 while Stallion and Mama Africa brands still sold at N9,700 and N9,300, respectively.

Similarly, the price of other brands, including Union, People’s Choice, African King, Tomato King, Red Eagle and Crystal, maintained their Christmas season prices.

Also the prices of all types and sizes of palm oil and vegetable oil also remained stable at the Yuletide season’s prices. Miss Chinyere Adishi, a rice dealer and some dealers in oil in the market, said that the prices of rice and oil had remained stable, because market activities had yet to pick up.

“You know that we are still selling what we bought for the Christmas and New Year and that is why the prices have not changed.

“Besides, people have spent much money stocking some of the items and it will take a while before they will return to the market to raise demand for the commodities,” Adishi explained. (NAN)